


Salted Lemons

by CosplayShenanigans



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunk "Partying", If partying were spelled like 'AAAAAAAAA', M/M, Philip is a good boy, Salted Lemons, Spandex Death Trap, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-05 13:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 22,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18366617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosplayShenanigans/pseuds/CosplayShenanigans
Summary: A wonderful College AU, this definitely will turn out great in the future.





	1. Chapter 1

The coffee washed away the stress of all the testing throughout the entire day, the bitter black liquid burning down his throat. The burn felt good, letting him know that the day of classes had come to an end. Adjusting the readers on his face, the student took another bite of the bread disc in his hand, lathered with a firm layer of blueberry flavored cream cheese that he forgot existed and didn't want to see go to waste. The crisp air made steam appear from his coffee and his hot breath. As a child, he would have pretended he was a dragon, though it never got cold enough where his childhood took place. It looked as if it might rain, possibly snow, soon. He didn't mind, as long as it didn't get too out of hand. A little rain would be good for the campus flowerbeds, they'd been looking a little dry lately. He knew one of his good friends was on watering duty, and knowing said friend closely, he more than likely forgot yet again. 

A gust of wind let his hair blow freely as he took another sip of his hot beverage, letting the scent of leaves falling around him in swooshing manners fill his nostrils. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice smoother than the cream cheese on his bagel. 

"I'm sorry, would you repeat yourself?"

"I said, There's a leaf stuck in your hair." A man in a magenta cardigan informed him, arms folding onto his chest as he scanned the male up and down, which was what he assumed to be looking for more areas to criticize, though it appeared that unless prompted, the man wouldn't lash out verbally. 

"Oh-" He realized, removing the prickly dead leaf from his brown locks, careful not to let it break off. He'd washed his hair just yesterday, so it settled back into its position, flowing in the wind perfectly as he chucked the leaf into the wind, only to have it blown into his face. 

"Ack-!" He removed the star-shaped object from the tip of his nose and let it fly away like a bird gliding on the wind, which flew right past him directly after. Upon noticing that the well-dressed stranger was still in his position, he acknowledged him once more.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He kept his tone careful yet firm, as to assert his boundaries but keep things calm between the two males. The man before him simply chuckled and brushed a curly lock behind his ear.

"What's your name?" 

"Excuse me?" 

"Are you deaf? I asked for your name?"

"Why do you want to know my name so bad? If it's that important to you, try approaching me in a kinder way, maybe with a compliment or conversation starter other than commenting on my appearance." He shot back

"I just told you there was a leaf in your hair, and asked for your name." 

"Maybe I wanted the leaf there. If you'll absolutely die without my name, I'll tell you right now, otherwise you should approach me more kindly." 

"I know you know who I am. You don't get to talk to me that way."

"The same can be said for you. Don't we have debate together?" The man asked before returning to his coffee.

"Well, yeah, but we were never formally introduced." The man spoke, the southern drawl purifying his words. 

"We've debated against each other a total of 6 times, all of which I've won. I know who you are, Jefferson."

"Oh! Right, right, you're that one." The man said, tapping himself against the forehead. "The pro-choice one?"

"Be more specific, literally everyone except you and a select few in that class are pro-choice."

"The immigrant?"

"Wow, that's what I am to you? Is that what I am known as around campus?" The male asked, adjusting his ponytail so that it wouldn't catch on his glasses. "I suppose you're known as the guy born with a silver spoon in his mouth."

Thomas snarled and leaned slightly to his right, Alex's left. "What do you have against rich people?"

"They don't have to work for a lot of things, they have it handed to them on a silver platter. They're one of the few types of people I envy." The man said, sliding the glasses further up the bridge of his nose. 

"What other people do you envy? Natural-born citizens?"

"I think you were born with the spoon in the wrong hole." 

Thomas let out a heavy sigh through his nose. He had nothing against immigrants, really, he just said something in the heat of the moment, which is how most of his problems started. This particular problem, a living, breathing, devilishly handsome problem, he'd have to learn to deal with. 

The Caribbean gathered up his book bag and began walking away, towards his dorm. He wasn't mad, per say, just a little irritated that he had to deal with such an encounter. IF this were to become a daily habit, an exchange of a mild to heated argument between the Virginian and the immigrant, anger would more than likely ensue.


	2. Like Bitter Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex has to debate with Thomas, and it almost all goes to shit

Alexander marched into his 6th and final class of the day, throwing away an empty coffee cup, which was still warm from when he bought it. Many of his friends cringed at the thought of drinking pure black coffee, but the bitter, hot bean juice kept Alex awake and somewhat manageable throughout the day. He wasn't particularly proud of his caffeine reliance, but he always needed a little extra push at the end of the school day. It kept him awake, and it was something to look forward to. 

'You complete this assignment, you get coffee'

'You finish this test, you get coffee'

And so on, and so forth. 

Alexander assumed his seat at the front, next to the alternate door, which many used for exiting besides the odd handful. The debate teacher liked to keep an eye on him, and was assuming the role of a parental figure for Alex. He pretended like he hated it, but he appreciated it when he really got thinking about it. His not-dad teacher was also paying him to write important documents and letters, considering his knack for fruitful paragraphs. 

"Alex, you're here a half hour early." The man said, as if questioning without questioning. 

"I'm always here early." The male countered, adjusting his seating to get more comfortable in the hard plastic chair, resuming his poor posture. 

"Yes, but normally only 10-15 minutes. What went on in your last class?" 

"We had a test to take, and I completed it in less than the time it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket." Alexander responded, getting out his debate journal. His notebooks and journals for class were color-coded. This particular class was colored green in his mind, so a green notebook was more than fitting. His friend, John, always said that it would suck if he were colorblind. 

"Have you eaten at all?" Mr. Washington had walked over to stand in front of his table. "You look a little worn out."

"Yeah, I ate a granola bar for breakfast." Alex seemed proud of this fact. It showed on his body that eating wasn't as important to him as his work. His ribs weren't showing, but he was walking on a fine line. 

"And for lunch?" He rose an eyebrow, cocking his head lightly at the young man, sighing as he fell silent and squirmed a little in his seat. "Alex, listen, you need to get better about feeding yourself. I don't want you ending up in the hospital for malnutrition, and I'm certain your friends don't want that either." This earned a nod from the workaholic, who seemed to understand, but likely would continue with this pace for a while. 

"Would you like anything to eat?"

"I don't think that's-"

"Necessary? Of course it is, everybody needs to eat more than a granola bar per day." 

"But you really don't-"

"Have to? Yes, sir, young man, I don't have to, but I want to. I'm going to leave the classroom to microwave you a Hot Pocket. Do not cause trouble." 

Alex nodded as the other left the room, deciding to review his debate notes. There weren't ever any tests, really, a large chunk of their grade came from actually debating with one another on the topic of their choosing. He'd be debating about someone about whether or not Medical Marijuana should be legal. He thought it definitely should. His debate partner likely thought otherwise. Though, he was told that he would get extra credit if the other's opinion swayed to his side, since the particular person was on the fence between should and shouldn't.

His teacher returned with the Hot Pocket, handing it to Alex. "Careful, it's hot." To which Alex made a remark about it being in the name, before taking a bite from the food. It felt good to get something in his system, he definitely enjoyed the food, and thanked his supervisor when it was gone, getting up and throwing away his trash into the gray waste bin. He then returned to his seat and waited patiently for class to start. 

People started filing into the classroom not long later, a couple of Alex's friends sitting next to him to give him company. Said friends would be debating against each other, but promised to try and not hurt the other's feelings. Alex didn't care about hurting this particular debate partner's feelings. 

For all he cared, he hoped his feelings were hurt. 

Thomas motherfucking Jefferson was his debate partner, and he hated it. Every second of hearing his opinion-based arguments was pure agony. Wah, Wah, abortion is wrong. Wah, wah, it's against nature. He fucking hated it. He tried not to let the anger get the better of him, but there were particular occasions where pencils went flying. 

As he walked over to where he'd be judged on his debate by his father figure, someone tripped him, causing him to smash face-first onto the tan carpet of the debate room. His glasses are broken. Dammit. They always were a cheap pair of glasses, easily replaced. He stuffed the snapped readers into his pocket and assumed his position, opening his debate notes as the other did as well. He squinted to read the notes, but having memorized most of them, he was able to debate smoothly. Every point brought up by Thomas was countered flawlessly, as if he'd practiced in front of a mirror for every single one of his points. 

Thomas was losing, and he never liked losing. It happened often, but he was not prepared to let it slide this time. As Alex finished countering his last claim, leaned his elbow onto his side of the table, resting his chin on his open palm. "Alexander, have you ever partaken in medicinal marijuana?"

"This is irrelevant-" Mr. Washington began protesting, but Alexander was too revved up to back down. 

"Yes, I have. My doctors were experimenting with it to see if it would help with my-" He caught himself before he accidentally revealed his biggest secret. "Erm, my anxiety."

"Did it help?" Thomas asked him 

"It did, but I'm on a different medication for it now." Alex said. 

"Why did you need it in the first place?"

"That is classified information."

"Oh, come on, it's not like we're talking to the rest of the class, nobody else will hear."

"That. Is. Classified. Information."

Mr. Washington stepped in. "Thomas, go sit down, admit that you've lost. Cut the condescending bullshit, that would get you nowhere in an actual court." He said firmly, making Thomas squirm and mumble a quiet 'yessir'. He gathered up his things and went to sit down, an ashamed expression flashing on his face for a split second before returning to his natural, asshole-esque expression. 

Class ended before everyone knew it, and Alex stayed behind to help put away the chairs to make it easier on the cleaning staff. He then returned home to his dorm, sitting with his room mate and best friend, John.

"How was debate class?" John asked him, shoveling a handful of corn chips onto his mouth. 

"You were there. You were debating with Herc about, uh, what was it?"

"School uniforms." John reminded, passing the bowl of corn chips to Alex, who politely refused with 'I just ate' as an excuse. 

"Did you win?"

"No." John admitted immediately. "But it isn't like he'll hold it over my head until the end of time. He bought me corn chips, so" He gave a gentle smile. "It doesn't sting as much to lose."

"I wish Thomas would buy me corn chips to make me feel better."

"No you don't."

"Yeah, you're right, I'd have to check if they were poisoned." Alex snickered with John. John always got corn chips whenever he lost, whether it was from Herc or Laf, but he never felt the sting as much when he ate the corn chips. Being poisoned by Thomas was a running joke between the best friends, and it always lightened their moods. 

"You should eat a snack. You look kinda pale."

"What is it with you people and eating?" Alex asked, confused. "I don't need to eat."

"Bullshit. Go make yourself a snack, or share my corn chips." 

"I'll go make myself some lemons with salt." He stood up to walk to the fridge and cabinet. John's nose scrunched up. 

"How do you eat those, man? Those things are sour as fuck!"

"They're delicious, and you'll shut your mouth. I am eating." 

John rolled his eyes and continued with his video game. "You can grab a controller when you're ready. I need someone else to play with besides these computers." 

"What game are you playing?" Alex asked him, preparing his snack. 

"DAMMIT!" John cursed. 

"Mario Kart." Alex noted to himself, knowing for a fact it was because of the TV sound of getting nailed with a Koopa shell and John's needless cursing. 

"Fuck you, Donkey Kong! Suck my dick."

"It would have rhymed if you said your Dong-." Alex informed, sitting beside him and watching him play.

"And I missed out on an opportunity like that. This is the worst day ever."

"Want a salted lemon?" 

"Fuck no. Grab a controller."

"Alright. Are we going to do a VS race?"

"Yeah, I'm tired of looking at Donkey Kong's stupid face." John said, exiting the Grand Prix and setting up their friendly battle.


	3. Caving in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets partnered with Thomas on a debate assignment, and ends up having to go to Thomas' to do it.

Alexander tapped his pencil against the desk at precisely 160 beats per minute. Mr. Washington was assigning partners and subjects for their next debate. They had to work together against a different set of partners to debate. Since he'd arrived early, he already knew who his partner was and what topic they were doing. He was slightly biting his lip to contain excited giggles and smirks, everyone around him misinterpreted this as nervousness, and gave him sympathetic looks. He, in turn, misinterpreted this as them knowing something he didn't. 

"In a courtroom, sometimes you will have to defend a client whose opinions you may not agree with. You must learn to be able to work together despite that." He informed. "Now, let's see here." Mr Washington lowered his readers to look down at his papers. 

"Aaron Burr and James Madison. Gun control. Against John Laurens and Mr. Lafayette." The man assigned, speaking loudly and clearly. The groups joined together and claimed a table.

"Charles Lee and Samuel Seabury. Middle Eastern Conflicts. Against Margarita Schuyler and Hercules Mulligan." Group formed. Thank you, next. 

Thomas, in the back row, chewed on the end of his eraser, aching to get this over and done with. He assumed he'd be partnered with James or Aaron, but both of those were out the window at the same time. Maybe, if he were lucky, he'd get an attractive girl to partner with.

"Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Death Penalty. Against-" 

Or an irritating caffeine addicted gremlin. Thomas didn't bother listening to who they were going up against. Being partnered with Alexander was a death penalty in itself. Alexander refused to walk himself over to the back of the room, so he reluctantly made his way to the front. He placed himself in the seat next to him. Everyone else's partners were assigned. Thomas followed suit with people beginning to talk with their partners. He cleared his throat, looking at the smaller man next to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off.

"For it."

"Excuse me?" 

"For it. The death penalty. I'm for it."

"Well, this is going to be easier than I thought." Thomas said through a sigh of relief. "I won't have to use any of my points against you."

"Save your energy for the Reynolds'. It'll take a bit of convincing for the one with the cool hat, so you'll have to focus your energy towards that instead." Alexander said with a playful smile. 

Thomas nodded. "So, we have about 20 minutes left, and while I could definitely write a well rounded argument in that amount of time, I'm sure you need more than that." 

"Excuse you, your argument would be about as round as a star if you wrote it in 20 minutes. I could write it in 20 minutes, though I admit that it wouldn't be the best argument it could be because it wasn't well thought through." 

"Okay, so what? Are we meeting up at your dorm?" Thomas scoffed. 

"No, John's got dibs."

"What? How does that work?" 

"It's an obvious fact. Whenever he has Laf or Herc, he always needs the dorm. If you think on it, it'll make sense." This shut Thomas up, which gave Alexander a few minutes to think about how they'd make their argument. 

"As much as I don't want to see your crusty ass dorm, I guess I'll come over an hour after we get out of here." Alexander decided, no conferring to see if this was okay, just decided then and there what he'd be doing. Thomas huffed and reluctantly agreed. 

As soon as the class let out, Alex walked over to his dorm and put together a bag full of things he'd need. A laptop, writing utensils, a stack of paper. The obvious choices. He then stole 4 cans of Red Bull from the kitchen and tossed them in there, placing a few pads at the bottom just in case the unexpected happened, along with a change of clothes. 

He likely wouldn't stay overnight, mostly because he valued his life, but if he fell asleep(What the Red Bull was for), he had a change of clothes for that. He felt prepared for the event ahead of him, and headed out of the dorm room quietly. 

He walked towards the dorm number that he'd been given shortly after leaving. He stood in the doorway and knocked firmly. A couple minutes passed, and Alex wondered if he'd been taken advantage of and tricked. He was greeted by a James Madison in a grey cardigan. "Sorry, I'm just on my way." He said,

Alex stepped aside to let him out of his own dorm room. "Is Thomas in there?'

"Mmm?" James hummed out, turning his head. "Oh, yeah, he is, he's asleep right now. Kicking his bed ought to wake him up, that's how I wake him up whenever he sleeps through his alarm." He said with a gentle smile. "I'll be going." 

Alexander nodded and watched him leave before entering the house, politely shutting the door behind him to keep all the warm air from getting out. He slipped off his sneakers so any dirt on them wouldn't get tracked. It may have been his most hated person's house, but he could at least be respectful of it. He called into the house to see if calling out alone would wake up his debate partner. That didn't seem to work. He walked towards where he heard quiet snores from, finding a room divided in two. He walked over to where the tall Virginian was sleeping, took his foot back, and whacked the front of his ankle into the bed frame, startling the other awake. 

"Jesus-" The other said, pushing himself into a sitting position to stabilize himself. 

"No need to bring religion into this. We have work to do." Alex cracked, plopping himself down next to him and opening his laptop. 

About 6 hours, a pizza, and two Red Bulls each later, the monster known as sleep took over Alex's body, and Alex succumbed. They'd gotten their work done half an hour prior, and were just touching up on a few things, Alex was writing examples, each one started with 'For example', subject to change as soon as possible. As Alex's forehead slammed onto his keyboard, Thomas jumped in surprise, checking the time. He sighed and adjusted the other to a laying down position, looking at the message typed by Alex's forehead.

'For example, if someone has broken into your house, stolen precious family heirlooms, and murdered all of your children, you'd want to see them be given the proper punishtgttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttth' 

He chuckled lightly, deleting the abstract letters before laying back and partaking of the delectable fruit called sleep as well.


	4. Crisp Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas invites Alex to go for a walk, since he isn't looking too good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to a nice cover of Here Comes a Thought while writing this. You'll get the full experience if you follow suit. It's covered by annapantsu

Thomas woke to sunshine on his face from an open window, the warmth of the light countered by the cool breeze coming from the outside. He sat up and stretched, popping several joints, making a figure curled up next to him shift. He looked down. To say that he was surprised to find a Caribbean male in his bed would be an understatement. He took a moment to reassess where he was. Did he have a hangover? No, he didn't, which meant he hadn't been drunk the night previous, and both of them were fully clothed, though upon second glance, it appeared that Alex had two shirts on. He noticed how the male looked a bit feverish and reached to relieve him of one. He got as far as grabbing the hem before a slender hand grappled onto his wrist, in half of a second Alex had woken up. 

"What are you doing?" The smaller of the two asked groggily, propping himself up on one elbow.

"I was just going to, uh, remove one of your shirts, you look a little feverish." Thomas said, quickly letting go of the shirt and retracting his hand.

"I'm only wearing one shirt" Alexander responded, rubbing his eyes while sitting up fully. 

"I can clearly see a tank top under your shirt, dumbass."

"Well, upon further investigation, you would know that it is, in fact, a binder, dumbass." Alex countered. On a normal occasion, he would be mortified to have said that, but during this moment, he was too tired to give a shit. Surprisingly, Thomas didn't have much of a strong reaction to that, his eyebrows rose, but he didn't have a bad reaction to this newfound information. 

"My bad. You shouldn't sleep with one of those on anyway, it can cause sleep apnea" Thomas warned. 

"That's a myth, fuck off." Alexander groaned. 

"Don't make me go to the internet." The Virginian stated as he stood up, dropping the subject completely. "Why don't we go for a walk? You look feverish, some fresh air would do you good, and I don't want you throwing up on my carpet." He said as he went into his closet to change his clothes, finding it unsettling to wear the same clothes more than one day in a row. 

The other swung his legs off the bed. "Is there somewhere I can change?" He asked, digging the clothes from his bag from under the laptop case. Thomas made a small gesture to a bathroom. Alex nodded curtly and headed in that direction, locking the door and changing into fresh clothes. It was only then that the small amount of nausea hit him. At least the fresh air would likely help his body relax, he wasn't entirely sure, but he decided to trust in it. 

He returned to the outside of the bathroom to see Thomas sliding on a jacket, and glancing over to Alex. "Did you bring a jacket with you?" 

"Yeah, I hung it up on the coat rack, I hope that was okay."

"That's exactly what you're supposed to do, it's not like you have cooties or something."

"You sure treat me like it sometimes." Alexander reminded as he left to slide on his jacket and put on his black sneakers. He took a hair-tie from his pocket and knotted it into his locks, forming a tight ponytail. Thomas joined him as he was performing this action. 

"You about ready to go?" He asked, stuffing his hands into his jacket pocket. 

"Yep, in about -6 seconds from now, I'll be about ready to go." Alex cracked

"Come on, dork." Thomas opened the door for him, watching as the other filed out into the crisp air and take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. A leaf flew into his face. 

"Ack-" He noised as he brushed the leaf from his face. "Why does this always seem to happen?" He asked nobody in particular. 

"Maybe it didn't see your scrappy ass, you gremlin."

"At least it knows to dodge someone as toxic as you." He countered back. "Wait a minute, that leaf's not sentient-"

"Don't think about it too hard, let's walk" Thomas said, beginning to stroll down the sidewalk. Alexander followed suit. The two of them walked in silence for a whole 5 minutes, before Alex decided to find something to complain about so they wouldn't have to experience quiet. He decided on the cold. 

"Why is it so cold out lately?" Alexander asked in a whiny tone of voice. "I hate it." 

"Haven't you dealt with enough winters to get used to them yet?"

"No, I grew up on an island, so I don't think I'll ever be truly used to them."

"You are in your senior year." 

"Ah, so are you, thank you Captain Obvious. That doesn't mean that my body is accustomed to colder temperatures."

Thomas shook his head, spotting a McDonald's up ahead. "Wanna grab breakfast?"

"Only if I can get some coffee." Alex wagered. 

"Okay, only if you get some actual fucking food." 

"You won't find that at McDonald's, Thomas."

"Touché. Let's grab some food."


	5. Making Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Thomas begin finding out about each other as they take a walk

For a while, the only sounds were footsteps on the pavement beneath the two, the quiet sips of Alex's coffee, and the occasional bite of their breakfast. Birds chirped now and then, but most were already flying south for the colder part of the year. Alex wanted to say so badly, "Take me with you", but alas, the birds did not speak English. 

Thomas seemed more interested in the birds than Alex, his entire face lit up as if Christmas had come early whenever he saw one fly just above their heads. Alex found this entertaining, and he decided to watch him amusedly while drinking his bitter liquid. 

"Do you think I should get a bird? Maybe a cockatoo?" The taller of the duo asked, finishing the last bite of his sandwich. 

"Do you want said cockatoo to die?" Alexander responded with all the sass he could muster. 

"Hey, shut up. I'm a very good dad." Thomas retorted. 

"Says the man with no children." Alexander rose his eyebrows

"And how many children do you have, then?"

"None, but I consider myself to be like a second father to John's beautiful children." 

"Oh. How many children does he have?"

"He has 4 beautiful turtles." Alex cleared up, earning a snicker from Thomas. 

"Seriously? Turtles?"

"Hey, I agree with him firmly that turtles are majestic creatures." 

"Okay, whatever you say." Thomas rolled his eyes as he spoke. 

The two fell into silence again, listening to the world around them. The wind whistled through their hair, Alex's ponytail had come down when they got their breakfast, so his hair was now imitating the wind's movements. 

"Ever considered getting a haircut?" Thomas asked the other. 

"Have you ever considered getting a haircut?" Alexander snapped back. 

"What? No! I love my hair- Oh." Thomas said, suddenly getting it. 

"Took you a minute, but you got it." Alexander chuckled. 

"Why don't you want to cut your hair?"

"I like having it long. I might get it cut eventually, but I prefer it long. The shortest I'll go at this point is shoulder length." Alex said.

Thomas nodded as he listened. Who knew talking to each other would be so easy when all they had to do was talk about hair? Despite how much sleep he lacked, and how often he skipped meals, it appeared that Alex had at least good hygiene practices. 

"Are we friends?" Thomas decided to ask the other, tilting his head up to look down at him curiously. 

"No." Alexander responded. "I don't think so." He never considered them to be friends, even though they were friendly at times and knew quite the sum of details about one another. "You shoot me down daily just because you feel like it. At least that's how I interpret it."

Thomas went quiet again, thinking about all the times he'd personally attacked Alex in the past. He understood why he was so uncomfortable around him now. 

"I'm sorry." He said after a moment.

"Sorry for your actions, or sorry for getting called out on them?"

"Sorry for my actions." Thomas apologized. This, in turn, made Alex fall silent. 

"Apology accepted." He stated after a total of 45 and a half seconds. 

"Really? Does that mean we're friends?" Thomas asked the other.

"I think you might be skipping a few steps here, but I guess since we've known each other I can make an exception." 

"Cool." Thomas responded, reaching to put an arm around Alexander's shoulders, only getting an arch away and a noise in response. 

"Don't touch me." Alex warned him. "Only my really close friends are allowed to do that." 

"Oh, I understand." No, he didn't. But, he'd pretend to anyway.


	6. Just a Sandwich

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Alex get more work done, and eat some lunch.

Thomas unlocked the door to his dorm room, Alex standing behind him with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. The man pushed open the door with the palm of his hand and the twist of the doorknob, taking off his shoes and jacket. The other followed suit, closing the door politely. 

"Doesn't James live here, too?"

"Hm? Yeah, he does, why?"

"Shouldn't he be back by now?" 

"He texted me saying he hurt his ankle and is staying with Aaron for a day or two." Thomas said, shrugging it off. This earned an understanding nod from Alex, who went to get back onto his laptop and continue writing points to address and prove wrong. He began rapidly typing at the keyboard, making only a couple typos. His fingers flew across the keys at lightning speed as he stared blankly into the screen of his Dell. He occasionally broke focus to check the time, but kept typing even as he did this. He sometimes didn't press the keys hard enough to register, so he'd have to hit the backspace button with his ring finger to fix a word. He didn't seem bothered by it, and was more than likely used to having to go back and fix words. Thomas gave constructive criticism to help improve their shared work the best they could. 

"Take that out, nobody will say that." 

"Thomas, trust me, someone is going to bring religion into this." Alexander said. "It's inevitable that someone will use their deity against the Death Penalty."

"Fine, fine, we'll leave it in." Thomas rolled his eyes, since Alex did bring up a fair point. This earned a triumphant grin from the other, who kept rapidly typing as fast as the physical limitations of the human body would allow him. The two continued their chattering until Thomas made an observation. 

"Hey, it's noon. Let's eat lunch" Thomas suggested. 

"We just ate breakfast." Alexander objected. 

"Yeah, we ate breakfast, like, 4 hours ago. It's time for lunch now."

"I don't eat lunch." This wasn't wrong, Alex certainly doesn't eat lunch very often, and definitely not because he can't. He considered himself too busy to actually make himself something to eat, even if it was as simple as eating a small bag of chips to keep his blood sugar up.

"Bullshit. You're going to eat something, or I'm going to unplug the Wi-Fi." Thomas threatened him. This got him out of his seat in almost an instant. 

"I'll just eat a sandwich." Alex crossed his arms. 

"Just a sandwich?" 

"Just a sandwich." He stated again. 

"Alright, what kind of sandwich?" Thomas asked him as he walked the other to the dorm room's kitchen, getting out sandwich ingredients and a couple plates. 

"Is ham and swiss alright?" The other asked as he sat down and watched the other fix the sandwiches. He'd help if asked, but didn't want to get in the way of a simple task such as making sandwiches. 

"Of course, we have a lot of ham actually, so you're kinda doing us a favor." He said with a playful grin, making Alexander a sandwich and handing it over, earning an expression of gratitude and a happy bite of the light meal. It was his favorite kind of sandwich, and he let the other know such a thing. 

"It kinda sounds like my last name, too. Alexander Ham-and-Swiss." He said, taking another bite. 

"Huh. Makes me wish I had a sandwich that sort of rhymed with my last name." Thomas pondered, starting on his own sandwich while thinking.

The two enjoyed their meal in silence. Comfortable silence, to be more specific. There is nothing more relaxing than eating a nice meal with a new friend of yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be a bit short, but I promise you that the sandwich detail about Alexander will be important later in the story!


	7. Friendly Chatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex goes out with his friends

Alex sat up in his bed, rubbing the back of his neck to get the cricks out. He'd gotten a fair amount of sleep the night previous, considering he often only got 1-2 hours at most. This was due to the tendency to always do twice than the needed amount of work, and do way too much extra credit. He was obsessed with his work so often that he found it more important than a regular sleep schedule. 

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Despite being a workaholic, he enjoyed his weekends. It gave him a chance to relax from all the stress of pressuring himself to succeed. Taking a deep breath of the morning air, he pushed himself onto his feet. He used said feet to walk into the kitchen, and make himself a bowl of cereal for breakfast. 

John and Alex may trust each other enough to share drinks, finish each other's food, and keep secrets that shouldn't ever be shared with the world, but they labeled their cereal boxes accordingly, because there's no telling what a tired person would do with another man's cereal. Alex's cereal was filled with almonds and granola, whereas John's cereal was enough to give a malnourished person diabetes by looking at the sugar content. 

Alex sat down with his bowl of cereal, in front of the television. He turned on a crime show and began eating his breakfast. He never did feel squeamish around the sight of dead bodies, which really came in handy when fate bitch-slapped him with brass knuckles on, and decided to kill most of the people he knew and cared for. 

John came out of his room, the smell of incense, cologne, and cigarettes lightly fading into the living room. His hair was a mess, matching Alexander's quite well. Alexander gave him a knowing smirk, which earned a scoff from the other. 

"What's that look about?" The tired ocean-fanatic asked as he went into the kitchen to make himself a breakfast scramble. 

"I know for a fact you don't smoke." Alex said through a chuckle as he shoveled another spoonful of granola into his mouth. 

John rolled his eyes. "It's not your business to judge what I do with my boyfriends, Alex. Especially coming from a virgin like you." 

"It's not your business to judge my sex life, especially since I have a very good reason to not sleep with people." 

"Why, you're single?" 

"John, you know for a fact that if that were the only reason, I would go out to the bar and fuck some random chick or guy in the back."

John chuckled, fixing his breakfast as they spoke. "I know, I know, I'm just teasing you."

"I know." The man told as he returned to his show and cold cereal. 

"Hey, Laf, Herc, and I are going to have a day out today, and they want you to come."

"Like a friend day out, or am I the awkward fourth wheel?"

"Come on, we wouldn't be a busted pickup truck without you." John joked at his friend. 

"A tricycle is safer." Alex cracked back. They both laughed, and Alex agreed to put pants and his binder on before they finished their breakfast and headed out. They met up with the Frenchman and Irishman once they were there, had a quick talk, then went to Laf's car. The man got into the driver's seat, and opened a pack of cigarettes. He rolled down his window, since he knew Alex could choke easily around the scent. John couldn't, it was as if being with his boyfriends disabled his ability to choke. 

As they drove along the roads, they engaged in pleasant conversation. Alex informed them of his recent grades, John complained about boring classes, and they all had a good laugh. 

They stopped for coffee, which made Alex cheer. They were going to get a coffee drink before they went to the movies, and then buy the ridiculously overpriced snacks there. Laf found a decent parking spot and led them all inside the shop. 

Alex, predictably, ordered black coffee, John a diabetes drink, Laf and Herc each a caramel flavored drink of choice. Herc paid with a swipe of his card.

They grabbed their cups thankfully and went back to the car, drinking their coffees with cheerful banter. They made dick jokes, like normal friends do, listened to each other's problems, and eventually began talking about a party happening the next weekend. 

"I heard there's gonna be lots of alcohol." Laf pitched in. 

"I'm sold." Herc immediately said. 

"So we're all feeding into stereotypes?" Alex interjected playfully, they all laughed, knowing where this was heading. "A drinking Irishman, a smoking Frenchman, a country boy making pickup truck jokes? In that case, I'll be the awkward trans wallflower." 

His friends laughed with him, and they all drove to a nearby movie theater, recycling their cups as they walked inside and decided on a movie to watch faster than you can say 'Rochambeau'.


	8. Wallflower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is a wallflower at a party

Alex knelt down to lace up his shoes as John explained how the party was going to be run. The usual, lots of alcohol, lots of girls, and people would probably have a hell of a good time in the bathroom. 

"John, are you really sure I should go? I could just stay here and eat salted lemons, watching my crime shows." 

"Fuck no, I'm not letting you be anti-social. And you should really stop eating those, I don't think they're good for you." 

"I don't think cereal in which the first ingredient is 'sugar' is good for you, either." 

"Touché. But you're still going to that party, all of your friends are going to be there."

"John, I have a total of, like 9-10 friends, compared to the amount that are in this college, that's kinda lame."

"What's lame is that you still use the word 'lame'. Let's go." John said, helping his friend up after the other finished lacing up his shoes. The two walked side by side to the party happening in a different dorm. They knew they were getting close when they could hear the bass thumping from outside. Alex wished he'd brought a pair of earplugs, considering he probably wouldn't be dancing to the music. 

John opened the door, and grabbed his friend by the shirt collar so he couldn't turn back. He pulled his best friend in after him, shutting the door. 

"There's no escape, Alex. All there's left to do now," John gestured around, "Is party." He said as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Ominous little shithead..." Alexander muttered to himself, sweeping his hair back and bunching it into a ponytail as he walked himself over to the drink table. He grabbed a red solo cup, and filled it up, filled it up, until the beer spilled on the ground. He looked around at all the people who felt socially comfortable enough to dance and have a good time, and then at himself and how he was plastered against the wall behind the drink table. The beer in his cup was gone in 6 seconds. 

He refilled. 

An hour or so passed of watching people come and go, and he'd gone through around 8 cups. To say he was mildly tipsy would be a bit of an understatement. He was quiet for one of the few times in his life, alone with his thoughts, trying to keep it together so he wouldn't cry. He figured another drink would help. He was about to refill, when a familiar southern drawl materialized in his ear, mixed with the scent of alcohol. 

"Whaddya doing over here all by yourself, Lexi?" Thomas asked, using the wall to his advantage and putting a hand right next to Alexander's head. 

Sober Alex would have shoved him away and cursed him out, warning him about the dangers of harassment on another's mental state. 

Drunk him played along. 

"'Lexi' is drinking his night away, since the friend who brought him here split off to go get drunk and dance with his boyfriends." Alex said, fiddling with the empty plastic cup in his hands. "What's 'Thommy' doing over here talking to him? Shouldn't he be with his friend 'Jemmy', having a good time?" 

"Jemmy doesn't like parties, he's staying with another friend who doesn't like parties so he doesn't have to deal with me and whoever I bring home." The Virginian said with a light wink. Seeing that he could hold his liquor well, he wasn't too intoxicated, compared to Alex. "I'll be your friend tonight, since yours abandoned you." The tipsy male said with a playful smile. 

"Okay...let's make small talk, then...what are you in college for?" 

"I'm gonna become a teacher, I've always liked kids." 

"That's creepy." 

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it that way. What're you going for?"

"I'm looking to be a lawyer of some kind, maybe someone who works in Human Rights." Alex said to him, staring into the empty cup in both of their hands. 

"Why don't I refill us, darlin'?" Thomas asked, taking both of their cups and filling them each with a different drink. 

"What did you get me?" Alex asked him, staring into his cup. 

"I got you another beer, since I saw you drinking it earlier. Me, I don't like beer, it tastes like dirty socks, so I got myself something stronger." Thomas explained. 

Alex stared into his cup even more intensely, with a light frown on his lips. Thomas noticed after taking a sip of his drink. 

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Lexi, you think I'm gonna date rape you?" 

"That's not entirely off the table." Alex said as he manned up and took a drink of his beer. 

The two continued talking for what felt like just 2 minutes, but in reality was more than 2 hours. Most people at the party were wasted, including the two men talking to each other. The taller of the two asked if Alex wanted to take their fun back to his dorm. The drunk immigrant looked over at his curly haired friends, who were laughing together. His brain flicked back to when John was teasing Alex about being a virgin. His grip on his cup tightened a bit before he looked at the other. 

"Let's go, then." He said slowly, tossing his cup at the garbage can and missing. He gave up, figuring it was the thought that counted. At least trying to clean up after himself was a nice gesture, even if it resulted in beer spilling onto kitchen tile. 

"Where's your dorm at again?" The Caribbean boy slurred as he was supported to walk along with his partner. 

"You've been there before, and you don't know where it is?" The southerner teased as he got out his keys and walked him up to the doorstep. Crickets chirped as Thomas unlocked the door, letting Alex inside first. 

Even as he was wasted, he remembered that it was polite to take off his shoes at the front door, and hang up his jacket. He was pulled into a hug afterward.

"You can leave your binder on if it makes you more comfortable."


	9. Crashing Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex feels like his life is falling apart.

"No." 

The word filled the bathroom, lingering for a few seconds before it left Alex in silence. 

"No!"

He said again, as if screaming at the test would change the result. 

"No.." 

He whispered out, as if crying and pleading would make the test faulty. 

The three tests faulty. 

As if the tears would wash away the mistakes made just a little over two weeks ago. 

See, Alex was used to getting his menstrual cycle every month. It was sometimes a little late, but Alex never had to worry before, being a virgin and everything of that story. However, this particular month, his period had missed him entirely. It wasn't late to the party, it never arrived. 

Just like Alex wished he'd never arrived at the party two weeks ago. 

He'd rather be groaning on the couch in pain than where he is now.

He drew in a deep, shaky breath, and forced himself into an upright position. He threw the tests in the bathroom wastebin and walked to the front door, sliding on his shoes. John wasn't home, which made this easier for him to do. He didn't want to be questioned at this moment. 

He felt cold as he began walking to the nearest clinic, though it was nearing the end of April. The weight of what he planned to do next was crushing him in a silence, a depression.

He noticed the lights were off in the clinic. That was strange, perhaps they weren't open yet. He walked up to the doors and noticed a slip of paper. He was hoping that was the times of their business hours. The times were printed on the glass. They seemed to be a 24 hour clinic. His heart dropped as he read the notice. 

Due to recent laws in place, the clinic was forced to shut down, meaning one of Alex's options of choice was completely torn away from his grasp where it had once been. 

He began crying. This wasn't fair. His entire body shook with every sob, he curled up on the sidewalk in front of the building, trembling. 

He heard a vehicle come to a stop, and he desperately tried to stop crying. A comforting voice filled his right ear. 

"Alex?" John asked, putting an arm around his best friend. "Alex, what's wrong, why are you here? This building has been closed for over a week." He asked, rubbing his side to help ease the pain of whatever was eating at him. "What even was this place? They've painted over the logo." He heard his friend beside him draw in a very shaky breath. 

"It was an abortion clinic." He said, his hands reaching out and clinging to his shirt tightly. 

John heard the words, but it took him a second to process the meaning. He understood. He used all of his strength to pick his crying buddy up off of the sidewalk. "We'll figure something out, Alex. An abortion may be off the table, but we'll figure something out." He said, setting him in the front seat of his truck. Alex had stopped sobbing now, letting tears silently roll down his face. John gave him a soothing pat on the knee and began driving them both back towards the college. 

Once there, he led Alex to the dorm room of Herc and Laf's, knocking loudly to signal that it was important. Herc came to the door, and immediately let them both in at the sight of Alex in tears. He yelled at the bathroom door for Laf, and began making Alex some tea. He figured tea would be more calming than coffee, otherwise he'd give Alex a cup of pure black brew. 

Laf came out of the bathroom, fully dressed, but his hair sopping wet. Alex saw the sight of Laf with his hair down and immediately burst into tears again, since it only reminded him further of the situation he was in, since Thomas and his friend looked almost identical. Laf quickly made the action of bunching up his hair, which calmed Alex a little bit. He was handed the cup of hot tea. He took a weak sip of the hot drink, letting John do the explaining of what happened. Laf became sympathetic, while Herc became enraged, not with Alex, but with whoever put him in this situation. 

Herc stood up. "Alex, who took you home the night of the party?"

"Wh-" Alex still looked frazzled, and looked a bit frightened by this behavior. 

"Who took you home the night of the party. I know you didn't go back to your dorm, since us three did that." Herc said, gesturing around the room to himself and his boyfriends. 

"It's...I..." Alex tightened his grip on the mug in his hands. "Thomas..." 

"Thomas Paine?! I'll put him through serious pain! I'll knock some Common Sense into hi-" 

John begged Herc to stop making threatening puns. 

"Wrong Thomas." Alex said as he forced another sip of tea past his lips. 

"Thomas Jefferson?" Herc asked, Laf pushing with all of his force to keep him confined to the couch upon seeing the redness in the Irishman's complexion. He was fuming. 

Laf looked at Alex. "Why don't you put the child in an...orphanage..." He said, trailing off upon realizing exactly why that wasn't an option on Alex's plate. "I'm sorry, cheri..."

There was only one option left. Everyone fell silent as they were immersed in thought. 

"I don't have any place to go after college...how am I supposed to deal with this?"

Immediately, his friends jumped in with ideas. John first. 

"My dad has some property out on the countryside, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you-" 

Then Herc.

"I could help make clothes to cut down on expenses-" 

Then Laf. 

"If you need it, I can lend you some money, you don't even need to pay me back!"

Alex listened to all of his friends, his tears stopped flowing, and his body stopped trembling in fear and regret. 

"And what about college?" Alex chimed in. 

Herc gave a gentle chuckle, his nerves calmed down. "Well, you graduate next month, don't you? You'll have finished school and gotten yourself a job by the time the lil thing decides it wants to be a part of society."

Alex chuckled gently as well. "Thank you guys...I...I don't know how I can repay you..." 

"Don't, you're under a lot of pressure and stress. You just need to get through this for us, and that would be enough." John said to him. "Come on, let's get us back to our dorm." 

Alex stood up and handed his empty tea mug to Herc. He thanked them for having him, and began to leave. John opened the door, and a small frame tumbled in through the door. 

"James? What are you doing here?"

"I..uhm..I..." The man stuttered, not wanting to admit that he was eavesdropping. 

John placed a hand on the short male's shoulder. "How much of that did you hear?" 

"...All of it...I noticed Alex was crying, and I didn't know what was wrong, I was just listening in to see if someone died, so I could send my condolences." James rambled, only to be shushed by a finger on his lips. 

"Just don't tell anyone, James." Alex said to the other. 

"But Thomas deserves to know-"

Laf interjected. "Thomas is not the one who is going to have to deal with this. Alex is, and his wish is for you to keep it under lock and key to the best of your ability." 

James froze before he took in a breath and nodded. "I won't tell him." 

"Good. Because I'm not going to, either." Alex joked lightly, earning an awkward laugh from the both of them. John clapped Alex on the shoulder. 

"Let's get you home, goofball."


	10. Getting by

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interactions between Alex and Thomas during their final days of college

Alex sat at his seat at the front of the classroom, writing something down in his journal. A presence joined him, along with an arm around his waist and a playful chuckle. 

"Whatcha writin', Lexi?" Thomas asked, trying to peek over his shoulder. 

Alex closed his journal, adjusting the pencil it was tied to. "None of your business. Let's talk about something else." He said, shoving his notebook in his bag. A hum was heard from the southerner next to him. 

"Like the stick up your ass?" He joked lightly, placing a finger under the other's chin in an attempt to cheer up. Alex took his journal back out and lightly hit Thomas in the face with it. 

"Ow...I deserved that." Thomas admitted as Alex slid the journal back, Mr. Washington gave Alex some work, and he began rapidly writing to complete the assignment. He walked up to the desk and turned it in. 

"I need more work." He told the man before him as he grabbed the papers. Washington raised a brow. 

"Why is that?" He asked. 

"I...need more money.."

"I thought I was paying you enough?" The man inquired. 

"Well, I don't need it now, but I need it for the future." 

"Well, won't you have a job by then, son?"

Alex visibly crumbled at that last word. "Sir, I need the money sooner in the future than that."

"Could I have a little explanation first?" He pushed the glasses down the bridge of his nose. 

"Sir, I...I'm...expecting..." Alex said as his eyes filled up with tears. He hated talking about it, he was worried that he wouldn't get a job, and end up starving himself and his baby to death. 

Mr. Washington immediately jumped to embrace the young man in front of him, letting him cry into his expensive suit. He gazed around the classroom, glad to see that there were only two other students in the classroom, one of them was sleeping. The other got up and jogged over, placing a hand on the back of the sobbing male. 

"Lexi, what's wrong-" He started. Upon seeing the boy visibly flinch at his touch, Mr. Washington jumped to his defense. 

"THIS DOES NOT CONCERN YOU, YOUNG MAN! SIT DOWN!!" He roared, surprisingly not waking up the sleeping student in the back. "HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!! CAN'T YOU SEE HOW FRIGHTENED HE IS OF YOU?!" Protective of the people he considered to be his children, and especially their children, likely from never having any of his own with his darling Martha, he had the tendency to yell when someone hurt them. 

"Sir, I-" 

"FOR THE LAST TIME, SIT DOWN!!!" He said, putting a hand on the back of his head to lock him in a comforting embrace. 

Thomas saw him next at lunchtime the following afternoon. He was sitting on the fountain with his friends, their feet dipping into the cold water to relieve them of the hot day as they enjoyed their sandwiches and laughed together. Alex finished his sandwich and bit into a salted lemon with a happy smile, making one of his friends visibly cringe, but only playfully, it seemed. He walked over there, wanting to make conversation. He walked over to them and put an arm around the male of choice. 

"That's an interesting snack choice, how do you eat that and not make your mouth bleed?" He asked, immediately being shoved off by a boy with loose reddish-brown curls. 

"So he can't eat what he wants, is that it?" John asked, cracking his knuckles. He was physically held back by his French boyfriend. 

"Aren't you the one who flinched when he ate them?' Thomas asked, making the Irish boyfriend jumping to defense as well. 

"You've got a lot of nerve, buddy. First, you go and-" 

"Herc!" The Frenchman warned. "Do not go any further with that sentence. You know that Alex wants to keep that concealed." He scolded, making the intimidating man go numb and sit next to his shocked friend. 

"I'm sorry, buddy, I almost cracked." He said. "Keep eating, I heard lemons are actually very good for you right now." 

James showed up, with Aaron at his side. Aaron looked more concerned than he was. "Thomas, I heard shouting, what's going-" He started, before he saw the three angry men, and one frazzled. He immediately understood. "Let's go somewhere else, Thomas, it's not a good time for you to be around them right now." He said, beginning to use all of his strength to push the other in the opposite direction of the group. The confused Virginian sputtered, and tried to explain, only to have his best friend shake his head at him.

"Not a good time"

The last time he saw him was the following day as he was walking back to his dorm, bag in his hands instead of on his shoulders. Thomas changed direction to intercept him, trying to strike up a pleasant interaction. 

"Hey, Lexi, is your bag broken?"

"No, my bag isn't broken." Alex said, beginning to cut around him, only to have the man tag along beside him. 

"Then why are you carrying it?"

"It's putting a lot of stress on my shoulders, and I thought it would be better to carry it." He explained, walking faster. 

"Oh, let me carry it for you." Thomas said, reaching down and picking up the bag with ease. 

"Thomas, no, give me my-" A journal fell out of the messenger bag in Thomas' hand. Alex immediately picked it up. "Give me my bag!" He said. Thomas frowned, furrowing his brow. 

"Give me the journal." Thomas tried to compromise, wondering why a journal was suddenly more important than him to Alex. 

"No! It's private! Give me my bag back! I can carry it by myself!" 

"I won't tell anybody what's in that journal, Lexi-" 

"You're the somebody I don't want knowing what's in there!" He choked out, getting very overwhelmed. 

Two angry voices shouted in unison at Thomas to hand Alex his bag back. He quickly did, fumbling with the bag to make sure nothing fell out of it. Alex put the journal back into it and quickly walked to his dorm room. 

"James, Aaron, I can-"

"We know you can explain, Thomas." Aaron said, crossing his arms and frowning at him. 

"I'll deal with him, Aaron, you should head back to your dorm. I'll come by later." James promised, tugging his tall friend by the shirt sleeve, an angry ball of 5'4 storming into their dorm room. 

"What were you thinking?!" He shrieked as he slammed the door behind him, glaring up at the man before him, who looked confused and shaken. 

"I thought I could..find out.."

"Find out WHAT? How much you can pester him until he breaks down? Stress isn't good for him right now, Thomas." 

"I don't know what's going on, James! He's been keeping me in the dark about what's upsetting him! Is he planning to murder me? Do I have days to live? He seems to have told you about this, why don't I get to know? Answer me, Madison!" Thomas said, gripping to the short man's shirt. 

"Thomas, he's expecting." The other blurted out.

Thomas' grip loosened. "...What?" 

James froze, immediately stepping away and forcing laughter. "E-expecting to talk to you after graduation, that's what I meant! Ha ha, what did you think I meant? Oh, would you look at my watch, we're out of milk, I'll swing by the grocery store and grab a few things, you don't need to help when I come back, I am perfectly capable of putting the fridge in the groceries all by myself-"

He opened the door and shut it quickly, racing to the dorm of John and Alex barefooted, listening to his heavy breaths and his feet slapping against the pavement of the sidewalk. He knocked rapidly on the door, confronted by a confused John. He tried to explain what happened, but could only manage a heavy wheeze, clutching where his heart would be. 

"Jesus Christ on a cracker, James, do you have an inhaler with you?" John asked, watching the small man nod and pull it out of his pocket, lean against the door frame, and take a deep intake of the medicine. "Alright, buddy, let's get you inside." He was ushered in, given a moment to relax, before being questioned. 

"I cracked. I was under too much pressure, we got into a little fight, he asked why Alex was being standoffish, and it slipped!" He said, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, still panting. 

"I tried to cover it up, but it made no sense, and I'm pretty sure it stuck to him!" He said, cradling his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, I broke my promise, I shouldn't have said anything." He rambled. 

"James, it won't matter. We graduate tomorrow, right? Alex won't have to deal with Thomas after graduation, he's moving out to the countryside to live in peace." John said gently. "He'll just live with the knowledge that he fucked up." 

"That won't be good, he wants to be a teacher. He'll be surrounded by kids all day to be reminded of his mistake." 

"I know, won't it be perfect?" John said with an evil smirk. 

"I guess, but I don't want him to have to go through that daily." James said, sighing. "I should head back, thank you for having me." He said, standing.

"It's no problem, James, thank you for coming in bare feet." John teased lightly, earning a nervous laugh from the small man as he walked out the door. 

James opened the door to his and Thomas' dorm room to find Thomas sitting on the couch, looking at his feet. 

"Where's the milk, James?" He asked as he looked up to see his best friend closing the door and sighing. 

"I didn't see the point of getting it, since we move out tomorrow."


	11. Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex, Thomas, and their friends graduate college.

Alexander fiddled with his binder underneath the black robes he was sweating in. He was very happy about graduating, and had a smile on his face despite the heat that was choking all of the graduates. He was waiting for his name to be called so he could receive his diploma, and was bursting with excitement. 

Since there were no students attending the college with a last name beginning in 'I', Alex was forced to stand next to Thomas. Thomas kept looking down at the man next to him, trying to contain himself, before he couldn't take it anymore, and he whispered to the other. 

"Is it true, Lexi?"

"Is what true, Thomas?"

"You're..well...with child, my child?" He asked, looking down at the other. 

Conveniently, Alex didn't have to respond, because his name got called. His friends clapped and whistled for him as he walked up on the stage to receive his diploma and deliver his Valedictorian speech, delivering the speech was a little bit different. Everyone gave him cheers and praise, making his cheeks go pink as he walked off to the side to wait with the other students and their diplomas. Thomas followed suit after receiving his own diploma. He stood next to Alex again. 

"So, is it?"

"Is what?"

"Is it true, that you have my kid inside you?"

"Shut up, you're not supposed to talk right now." Alex said, dodging the question to be respectful to the fellow graduates, not necessarily the man at his side. 

Thomas was silent for the rest of the ceremony. Alex walked off when he tried to make conversation, so John and his friends could help him pack to move into the house that was being handed over to him, given the circumstances. 

He found Alex half an hour later about to get into a truck. 

"Lexi! Wait!" 

Alex froze in his tracks and sighed, setting his suitcase on the passenger seat floorboard of the truck. 

"What do you want, Thomas?"

"I..want to know if what I was told is true. Do I have a kid?"

Alex looks like he wants to speak, but instead he climbs into the vehicle and shuts the door behind him, buckling up. 

John walks up to see Thomas standing there. He groans, "What do you want?"

"I want to know if I have a baby." He pressured. 

"No, Alex does, though." John said, crossing his arms after he set a bag down on the sidewalk next to him. 

"Oh, so...the baby isn't mine?"

"It's Alex's."

"He couldn't have gotten himself pregnant."

"You got him pregnant."

"So the baby is mine."

"Alex's." John said firmly. Thomas suddenly got the picture, his blood ran cold, his mocha face paling. 

"I don't get to see the baby I helped create?.." He choked out. 

A pained expression flickered across the boy's face before he clenched his fists. "No, you don't, and I understand how stressful that is for you, but Alex requested us not to tell you, so we figured you shouldn't help him raise the child."

"He's pro-choice, why didn't he just go to a clinic?"

"Because people like you voted to have those clinics shut down." John spat before picking up the bag and getting into his truck. 

Those words hit the man like a train, but he tried not to let it show on his face. 

"You ready to go, Alex?" John asked, looking at his friend, who sighed before taking a look out the window at the man frozen on the sidewalk. 

"Yes." Alex said, but didn't mean it. 

Thomas stared helplessly as he watched the truck drive down the road, leaving him stunned. He took a deep breath and let it out, it came out a little shaky. He knew what would come next if he didn't collect himself. He put a finger on either side of the bridge of his nose.

"Big boys don't cry." 

Alex watched the city lights slowly come to a stop, replaced by fields of grass, and vegetation. They turned right, and drove down a couple houses, parking in the driveway made of small stones gathered loosely. Alex got out of the car. His eyes met the gaze of a single-story house with a green deck built into the side, meaning it could be accessed from the side door. He looked around at the open land that laid beyond the fence on the opposite side of the house.

"There's an acre or so of land here, you could probably plant a couple trees if you really wanted to, and it's definitely enough room to raise a growing kid." John reassured, bringing him inside the house. "There's not much in here, considering it's not really used, there's a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom so far, furniture-wise. I'm sure you can figure the rest out. If you can't, just give one of your friends a ring, alright?" John said, giving Alex a smile. 

"Here, I'll take your things to the bedroom. it's across from the bathroom, so you won't need to worry about finding it." He called as he carried the bag and suitcase to the bedroom. Alex stared out of the window in the kitchen, quietly. A gentle breeze blew over the tall grass opposite his property. He felt his chest ache. He squeezed his eyes shut. You've cried enough this past month, haven't you? Wipe your eyes. 

Big boys don't cry.


	12. I'm so sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex meets his son

The white noise of the hospital room filled his ears, he was alone with his thoughts. The doctor and nurses had noticed something, and as soon as the baby was out, it was whisked off without him being able to see it. He turned to his friends, who were supporting him through this, and all that could come out of his lips was, 

"Is it dead? Why was it taken away?"

The uncomfortable silence had filled the room, before Herc piped in and informed that he'd been whisked off when he was born, too. This comforted everyone in the room, including Herc himself.

They had left the room to get Alex something, since he hadn't eaten in around 6 hours. Alex was staring at the blanket that had been put over him. He didn't mind the blanket, it was warm, oddly comforting, especially in late January. 

The door opened, Alex expecting it to be one of his friends with a Hot Pocket or something. "What did you get me?"

He heard an unfamiliar voice chuckle. "A baby" 

He looked up immediately to see a nurse holding a sleeping bundle of what appeared to be a loaf of fresh bread. She walked over with the tiny thing, laying it gently in the male's arms. "Congratulations, it's a boy." She said, watching the man before her stare in awe. She giggled gently. "Well, why don't you give him a name?" 

Alex thought for a moment, looking down at the sleeping loaf in his arms, his gears turning together to create a perfect name for his son. 

"Philip."

"Philip?"

"I want to name him Philip."

"That's a beautiful name, could you spell that for me?"

"P-h-i-l-i-p." Alex said, watching the nurse write it down before leaving. He gazed down at his son, watching him gently move around in his sleep. He gently touched his face. The baby started waking up. 

The infant looked at him inquisitively, moving around his small limbs to try and get closer for a better look. He relaxed upon feeling a warm hand against his face. 

"I'm sorry." Alex said. Those were his first words to his baby. Not 'Hello, there', or 'So beautiful', or 'I love you'.

"I'm sorry...I...I don't know if I'm capable of this...I'm going to try my best, I promise...I'm sorry if my best won't be enough for you." He apologized to the baby, who looked very confused.

"I'm sorry...you probably don't understand any of this, you're a whole 20 minutes old...you have so much to learn about the world." Alex said, stroking the baby's soft, chubby face. This earned a smile-like expression from the newborn, soothing a few of the adult's nerves. He relaxed back in his hospital bed, holding the baby in his arms on his chest. 

"I love you, Philip." He told the child, who probably didn't understand a word of what he said, but seemed to appreciate all of it anyway. 

His friends enter the room, with several Hot Pockets, just as Alex expected. The baby is placed in the bedside holder so Alex can get something in his stomach, since a lot of what was in there had been removed. He occasionally makes a silly face, keeping the baby happy and calm as he is stood around and cooed at lovingly. 

"He kinda looks like you, John." Alex informed as he took another bite of his microwave sandwich. 

"He kinda does, but I don't like pussy, so." He shrugs. 

"Don't swear around my baby." Alex warned the man as he finished his food, getting the wrapper taken from Laf to be thrown away. 

"Come on, he doesn't know what I'm saying." John brushed off.

"But he'll remember the word and repeat it later, like 'Hello', 'I love you'-"

"Won't you tell me your name?" John cut in to sing, earning a laugh from everyone except the confused baby in the crib. 

"Guh-" The small boy tried to conversate. 

"Is that right, little man? Got anything else to say to us?" Herc asked the baby. 

"Mmmm." Philip settled down, pleased with having been responded to. 

"Talkative baby." Laf observed, reaching in a finger to the young child, having it gripped onto and tasted. Philip decided that this object was definitely not for eating. He made a confused noise, before deciding that crying would be the best way to get something that was for eating.

A loud wail from the baby with balled up fists signaled everyone within a 2 mile radius that he was desiring some milk. Alex pointed to the formula products on the table, asking one of them if they could make a bottle so he could feed his baby. They complied, and the screams were silenced by a bottle, and being held in the warm arms of his birth-giver. 

"Did it hurt?" John asked his best friend. 

"Did you seriously just ask him if pushing a watermelon sized object through a coin-sized slot hurt?" Herc scolded. 

"Of course it hurt, they didn't give me any anesthetic." Alex informed. "I've always had a tolerance for physical pain, though." He informed as he heard that the infant had finished his milk, and was now very happy again. 

Philip stayed generally well behaved during the time that he had to spend in the hospital, and during the ride home from said place. He got a little fussy when taken out of his car seat, and needed a change, but after that, he felt alright. He had a good time sitting on the deck with his father, under the warm safety of a blanket and coat. Cooing, and gazing out at all the open space he'd be able to play in when he was a little older. 

"I love you, Philip." Alex said to the baby, tickling under his chin, earning a small laugh from the child. 

"We'll have a good time together, yeah?" He said to infant in his arms. "I'll never leave you. That's what my dad did to me." He cupped the child's face. "I won't put you through that." 

The baby appreciated hearing him talk, and being touched gently, but he wanted to hear his own voice, found himself with limited noises, and began crying instead. 

"Oh, no, honey, please don't cry, I've got you. Are you hungry?" Alex asked, gently rocking the baby in his arms. "I can get you a bottle, come on, it's cold out here, let's get you warmed up-" He began rambling as he took the baby inside to attempt to feed him. 

He made a bottle and tested the milk temperature on his wrist, attempting to feed it to Philip, who cried louder and pushed it away, not hungry. 

"I just changed you, that can't be it-" Alex said as he paced around in a circle with the baby in his arms. "Are you sleepy, do you need to go to bed?" He asked, gently cradling the baby in his arms. That didn't calm him down any, if anything, made him cry louder. Alex started crying, too. 

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing, I've never had a baby before." He choked out through a few tears. "Are you bored, do you need a toy?" He asked, walking to the bedroom, opening, the toy chest and taking out a soft cube, handing it to the baby, who calmed down, staring at the object in interest. Alex laughed awkwardly through the tears streaming down his face. 

"Okay, you were just a little bored. I understand, I get cranky when I'm bored, too." He said, watching the baby gum gently on one of the round corners of the pillow-y toy in his hands. 

"I'm so sorry." 

His tears ceased as he watched the sentient loaf of bread in his arms enjoy his activity.


	13. Gentle Coos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander spends quality time with an 8 month old Philip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some fluff to make up for all the heartbreak I've put you through so far.

Alex woke up in the morning to the sounds of his son cooing and gurgling in his crib, piecing unintelligible words together in an attempt to communicate with the world around him. He chuckled, tiredly putting on a pair of his glasses, not bothering with his hair. He bent over the crib, slowly picking up the child. 

"Hey, buddy, there's my big strong boy." He said to Philip, earning a happy coo in response. 

"Ab-ba?" He asked, hugging around his father's neck. Alex chuckled gently. He didn't count this word as his first, since it wasn't in English, Spanish, or French. He'd been saying it for a while, but Alex could tell that he was just piecing sounds together to communicate. 

"Is that me?" Alex asked as he gently bounced the boy in his arms. Philip giggled at the game. "Can you say 'Papa', Philip?" He asked as he gave a gentle smile. 

"Apa-" Philip started. 

"Almost there, buddy, keep trying." 

"Pa-pa." Philip noised out. Alex cheered triumphantly. First word achieved! This scared Philip, and earned some cranky noises in response. 

"Aw, it's okay, Philip, I just got excited, you made Papa very happy." He said, bouncing him again. "Why don't we get you some food, yeah?" This produced a happy squeal from the baby. 

"Yeah, breakfast sounds good, doesn't it? Let's get you dressed for the day, you handsome man." Alex praised as he set him on the changing table. Philip was relatively good when it came to being changed in and out of clothing or diapers. This particular munchkin was feeling playful today, and began wiggling his feet around, giggling. 

Alex gasped as he unbuttoned the boy's onesie, bending down and blowing farts on his soft tummy, earning loud laughs from the infant. 

"Okay, you little devil, let's get you ready for today." Alex said, picking out some clothes for the small human, who flipped onto his stomach to coo at the world around him. 

Alex laughed. "What are you doing, you silly boy? I can't put your clothes on backwards!" He flipped the baby back over and dressed him in a light blue outfit, earning an appreciative coo from the child. 

"You ready for breakfast?" He asked Philip as he lifted him up. His response was flailing and squealing, and he took that as a yes. He brought the infant to his high chair, where he made music on the tray with his hands. He got out some food for Philip, and said special boy was excited to eat. He sat in front of his high chair and took the necessary precautions to begin spoon feeding the child. 

Philip ate his food with no fuss, he never did fuss when eating, because he knew that eating eliminated hunger, no matter what it was. This, in turn, meant that he thought the rocks in the driveway were food. Alex had once made the mistake of leaving Philip's carseat on the ground while getting the car set up, and Philip had reached down and grabbed what he thought was a delicious chicken nugget. 

Alex had stopped him before he damaged any of the teeth that he had just been getting. He firmly but gently taught Philip that rocks are not for eating. 

When all of the food was gone, Alex cleaned his face and kept Philip in his high chair so he could eat his breakfast while having a 'conversation'.

He sat down with his scrambled eggs and began relaying his problems from work. 

"So, I keep trying to get them to do my case, but they won't listen to me. They're absorbed in other things." 

"Ababababababa." Philip said while patting his hands against the tray. 

"I know, and that's what I try to tell them." Alex said, eating another bite of egg. "I tell them, 'Hey, this woman desperately needs help, her husband is abusing her in several ways', and they sweep it under the rug." 

This earned louder, serious babbles from his son. 

"You're right, maybe I should be more forceful. Photographic evidence could be helpful, do you think I should call her in for that?"

"Aga-"

"What a smart young man you are, I could call her into the office instead of here, to prevent anything from happening. She's a very pretty woman, you know." 

Philip giggled playfully at his father's words. 

"And I totally would, but my heart still belongs to someone else." He said, booping his son on the nose, earning a gasp. He stood up and washed his dish, while the kid behind him cooed inquisitively. 

"Hmm? I'm washing dishes, so they're clean for when we eat again." Alex explained, very patient with his offspring. He earned a satisfied coo. Philip sure was learning a lot today. 

"Let's get your shoes on, we have to go to the supermarket." Alex said as he tugged on his coat and shoes, grabbing Philip's baby shoes and socks, putting them on his little feet. Philip loved shopping, Alex always let him hold a little bottle of juice or small box of berries so he could help, too. "Ready to go, honey?" He asked as he carried the baby to the car. The baby was buckled in, and driven to the store with no fuss. 

Once there, Alex set Philip in the shopping cart seat. He bounced excitedly as he was pushed around the store to pick up the groceries. Alex let Philip hold a small package of raspberries, which the infant got excited about, emitting a pleasurable yell. Not too loud, just to let a few people know he was happy. The man shook his head with a chuckle. "Do you like your berries, lil' munchkin?"

"Eeeooo" Philip said, staring at the pink lumps of goodness through the plastic packaging. He looked excited to eat them. He held the berries for dear life as the cart moved to the checkout aisle, politely handing over the berries to the cashier like he'd been taught, watching them get scanned. 

Philip was carried back to the car in one of his father's arms, the other arm with the groceries. He set down the baby in his carseat, buckling him again. He set the groceries in the backseat next to him. 

Alex got into the driver's seat and drove them home, with Philip babbling away in the backseat, flapping his arms. He parked in the driveway and went around back, picking Philip up out of the car, and grabbing the groceries before walking inside. He put the groceries away before feeding Philip a raspberry and laying him on a soft blanket in the living room for some supervised tummy time. 

He watched his son coo at the surroundings from his position on the floor, able to see so many things. Alexander got a toy from the toy chest and put it a reasonable distance away from the infant. Philip looked curious, and cooed at the toy, reaching for it. 

The man shook the toy so it made a rattling noise, making Philip giggle, focused on it. "Go ahead, Philip, get the toy!" He encouraged, making Philip support himself on his hands and knees, beginning to shift his weight occasionally from moving his knees forward and his hands forward. It happened over the course of two minutes or so, Philip slowly but surely crawled over to his toy, yelling happily when he grabbed it. He was given praise, and another raspberry. 

And a nap.


	14. Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip gets ready for his first day of first grade

"Alright, we've got you your crayons, what's next on the list?" Alex asked, setting the crayons in the cart with his son, who was 6 years old at the time. Philip grabbed the pink slip of paper up from his lap and read it off. 

"I need a notebook." The small boy read off, looking around before finding them and pointing proudly at his discovery. Alex nodded, pushing the child towards the notebooks he'd spotted. Philip chose a blue notebook with bright golden stars on it. His eyes lit up at the sight of the empty book full of so much potential. He looked up at his father, who nodded in approval. He happily placed it in with the other things. 

"Did you like school last year, Philip?" The man asked as he pushed the shopping cart down the aisle further to get Philip a new lunchbox. Kids last year decided to take his and it came back all dented and broken. 

Philip nodded anyway. He enjoyed school, just not a lot of the kids in it. "I learned lots and lots! I'm excited to learn loads more this year!" He said, his eyes wide and lit up with excitement. "Can I have the yellow one, Papa?" He asked, pointing to the yellow lunchbox, which was taken down and handed to him immediately.

"Well, I bet your new teacher will teach you lots and lots of new things this year, and I'm sure you'll get good grades, since you are one of the smartest young men I know!" Alex encouraged, making his son visibly lighten at the praise and encouragement. 

"You think so?" He asked, eyes full of wonder, a hunger for knowledge, just like the man before him. 

"I know so. Now, let's see what's next on the list." 

The two finished up their shopping, which included a new backpack for Philip, after around an hour and a half. 

School began the next day. Alex always wanted to make sure that they bought their school supplies the day before, so nothing would be lost between purchase and packing into the backpack. This always riled Philip up, and caused him to run in big, excited circles around the house, before Alex told him to safe his energy for outside, once they'd finished packing. 

To give the child his own sense of responsibility, not to mention creativity and structured thinking, he handed the school supplies over to let Philip arrange them however he wanted in the backpack. Philip always put the taller, thicker things near the back, and smaller things near the front, to prevent crushing, tearing, or folding.

Once all the school supplies were in there, along with a fresh change of clothes(because you can never be too sure), Alex released Philip into the wide open yard to play around, burn off all that excitement before bedtime. 

He sat down on the deck to supervise, clutching a cup of coffee in his hands with a warm smile as he watched his pride and joy scream excitedly as he ran around in wide circles, roll around on the grass, take deep breaths of the unpolluted air, and chase after fireflies. He managed to catch one in his hands, gazed at it for a moment, before letting it go and running up to the deck stairs, letting the driveway rocks hurt his feet. He was too excited to care. 

"Whatcha drinkin, Papa?" Philip asked as he laid his head softly against his father's elbow, earning a chuckle and a gentle pat on the head. 

"Coffee." Alex said, taking another gulp of the beverage. 

"Can I try a sip?" The young boy asked, looking very curious about the hot drink in his dad's hands. The man thought it over before placing the mug in Philip's hands. 

"One sip." He agreed, watching the excited young boy try a sip of it and scrunch up his nose for a moment, looking very conflicted about the taste. The adult laughed. "What's wrong? Do you not like it?" He asked, as the boy shook his head. 

"It's so bitter!" He whined, disliking the fact that the bean juice was not up to his standards. 

"Aw, that's too bad. Sometimes people put sugar and cream into it to make it meet their tastes better." Alex explained, gulping down the rest of his drink. "But, I like it just the way it is." He informed as he stood himself up. "Come on, let's get you a bath, goofball, you're smelly." 

"Am not!" Philip crossed his arms, complying with the suggestion to take a bath, but refusing to believe he was smelly. 

"I know, I know, I'm teasing. But you are dirty from rolling around on the ground, and I don't want you going to your first day of school dirty." Alex said as he brought the boy to the bathtub, helping him undress, considering he still had trouble with dressing and undressing. (Whenever he insisted that he could dress by himself, he'd always run to his father with his arms stuck into his shirt, begging for help.) 

He ran some warm bathwater, letting Philip ramble on about nonsense, encouraging the imagination coursing through the boy's blood. He picked up the child and set him in the warm water, cleaning the dirt off of his son as he listened to more nonsense, nodding along to show that he was listening to the story of the tortoise that got carried by butterflies into space. 

He grabbed the shampoo and washed out the bountiful curls on the boy's head, earning a happy smile and some squeezed shut eyes, so they wouldn't be filled with soap. He grabbed the shower head, rinsing out the hair and fluffing it out a bit for good measure. He turned off the bathwater and lifted him out of the tub, drying him off with a fluffy towel. He helped the boy button up his blue pyjamas, and led him to bed, putting a glass of water on his nightstand. 

"Can I have a story, Papa?" 

"Just one chapter." Alex said, walking over to the dresser and taking the book from on top of it, opening it to the chapter they'd left off on. "Do you remember where we left off?"

"Yes. Sirius Black was seen by Ron, and Professor McGonagall was very angry with Neville for leaving the passwords out." Philip responded, earning a nod from Alex, who began reading.

"No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again..." Alex went through the story, hand motions and different voices for the characters to keep Philip captivated in the world of Hogwarts. 

"...Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed." Alex finished as he bookmarked the page and met gaze with a saddened Philip.

"But why, Papa? He was a good Hippogriff, it wasn't his fault. Draco was the one who started it!" He whined. Alexander hushed him cupping his face to plant a kiss on his forehead. 

"I know. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and good things to bad ones. Draco's parents were powerful, right?" Alex explained, setting the book aside. 

"Yeah." Philip said, remembering. 

"Sometimes powerful people can get their way with whatever they want." Alex said, getting up to place the book back on the dresser. "But, there will always be good people to fight back against them. Even if they lose, the fight for what's right is what counted most."

"That makes sense." The young boy said as his father tucked him in, nodding. "Goodnight, Papa." 

"Goodnight, Philip." Alex said, walking to the door and shutting off the light, switching on the nightlight and walking out of the boy's bedroom, into his own to get ready for bed himself. 

Alex groaned as he turned over to his side and slammed his fist onto the alarm clock. He stayed in bed for a half of a half of a second more, before getting dressed for work. After that was finished, he went to the room of his sleeping son, who appeared to be half in bed, half out. He chuckled and yelled suddenly, waking the boy with a start as he fell on his bottom onto the floor. 

"Aw, Papa, can't I have five more minutes?" Philip asked, hugging his pillow against his face to drown out the light that was suddenly shown by the curtains being drawn. 

"Nope, you know very well that it's a half hour drive to your school, not to mention that we have to stop for gas today." Alex said, raising his eyebrows at the boy who reluctantly stood up with a final yawn. "Good. Let's get you into some clothes." He spoke, opening Philip's shirt drawer and letting him pick out an outfit. His child had a relatively good sense of style, so he could be trusted. A green t-shirt and blue jeans would do just fine. 

He helped his son get dressed, earning a big smile. He pat the mess of hair on top of his head, there would be no point in trying to tame it today. The wet hairbrush trick was for special occasions only, and usually resulted in a large amount of tears. Dragging a tear-stained Philip to school would give the wrong idea. 

Alex went into the kitchen and made some cereal for Philip, letting him eat carefully as he ate a fruit cup for his own breakfast. Ever since Philip came around, he'd remembered to begin feeding himself more. After he finished his cup of probably-processed pears, he grabbed Philip's lunchbox and began making him a sandwich. 

"Philip, would you go outside and get me a lemon from the tree?" He asked politely as he grabbed a knife, cutting the sandwich into triangles. He wrapped the sandwich in food-safe paper, and slid it in, along with a Capri-sun and a cooling pack to keep the lunch cold. Philip set his empty bowl and spoon in the sink before heading outside, returning with a lemon. Alex cut it into fourths, sprinkling salt on each slice. This made Philip very excited, bouncing up and down. Alex set the lemons in the lunchbox as well, closing them together with the help of a rubber band. The rubber band was perfectly safe, considering Philip was taught not to eat the lemon peel. 

He helped the boy put on his backpack, and handed him the yellow lunchbox, taking a picture of the happy boy, prepared for his first day. 

"Let's go to the car." Alex said, putting on his shoes and waving him along. Philip followed, letting Alex lock the door as they walked to the car together. 

The car trip to school began, Alex letting Philip pick the music that was played so he wouldn't be upset during the car ride. They stopped for gas, and immediately went over to the school. Alex got out, and held Philip's hand in his, leading him up to the bottom of the front steps. He embraced him in a hug and kissed his forehead. "I love you. Be good." 

"I will, Papa, I always am!" Philip said, opening the doors and disappearing inside. Alex let out a deep breath, smiling gently to himself before walking back to the car and driving to work. 

Philip walked to his classroom, being able to read the classroom signs. He stopped at one with a magenta name tag under the room number. This was his. He tried pushing the door open, but was too small to reach the handle. He tried jumping for it, before a chuckle sounded behind him. 

"Are you trying to break into my classroom, pumpkin?" The man asked, crouching down to his height, getting a playful nod in response.

"Yes! Then I was going to steal all of your chalk and eat it!" Philip said, baring his teeth like a scary dinosaur, and making a playful eating sound. His teacher laughed at his actions. 

"I like you already! You're here kinda early, you know." He spoke as he turned the handle and pushed the door inward, leading the child in close behind. 

"Yeah. Papa had work today, and his work starts fifteen minutes after I'm supposed to be here!" Philip explained, looking for his cubby.

"I see. What's your name, sweetheart? I'll help you find your cubby." 

"Philip! Philip Hamilton!" He said proudly, grinning widely at his own name. 

"Huh. Your last name brings back memories." He informed, leading the kid to the cubby marked with a '7'. "Here's yours!" 

"Thank you!" Philip hung up his backpack and set his lunchbox in its proper spot. 

"Do you remember my name?"

"Yes! Your name is Mr. Jefferson!" Philip stated, proud that he remembered such an important detail. 

"That's right!" Thomas praised, patting the child on his bouncy curls. 

"Do you like Harry Potter?" Philip asked as he looked for his desk, which was right across from Thomas' at the front of the room. 

"I love Harry Potter! I'm a Ravenclaw, what are you?"

"I haven't gotten my Hogwarts letter yet! But, Papa says he's a Slytherin!" He said, putting his school supplies in his desk to pass the time. 

"Do you think Slytherins are evil?"

"No! They're cunning, ambitious, and resourceful!" Philip said. "That's what Papa said!"

"Does your Papa let you know what those words mean?"

"Nope! I stole his dictionary and learned for myself!" 

Thomas laughed again, sipping from his water bottle afterwards. "Maybe you're a Slytherin, too!" 

"Maybe! But I think I'm a Gryffindor!" 

"Oh, really?" The Virginian watched the child run over to his cubby and pull out a blue piece of paper. 

"Are those your shot records?" He extended his hand to get the paper. 

"Yep! Papa forgot to sign for my measles shot last time, and that was the only one I was missing. I got it two days ago, so I'm invincible!" He laughed triumphantly and jumped up and down, causing more laughter from the teacher. 

"You sure do talk about your Papa a lot. What happened to your Mama?"

"I don't got a mama! I got Papa, and that's all!" Philip said, sitting in his desk. A few other kids came in, and Philip tried to socialize, to no avail. Friends that he would eventually make weren't in this classroom, so he had nobody to make nice with, or play pretend that they were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. 

The small child sat there and waited for class to begin.


	15. Class is in session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip experiences his first day of school

Philip swung his feet gently, listening to the chatter around him die down as the tall teacher got up in front of the class. 

"Good morning, class!" Thomas greeted, slipping on a pair of sunglasses. 

"Good morning!" The students chorused in front of him. Philip raised his hand inquisitively. 

"Yes, Philip?" 

"Why do you have sunglasses on if we're inside?" He asked, setting his hand down after the question was done.

"Well, that's a very good question. I'm wearing sunglasses, because your futures are so bright!" 

Every student in the class laughed, enjoying his little joke. A few clapped for him with big smiles. 

"Why don't we all go around the classroom and say one thing about ourselves? I'll go first." Thomas said. "My name is Mr. Jefferson, and my favorite color is magenta!" He said. 

He started with the front row, having all the children introduce themselves. He stopped at Philip. 

"My name is Philip, and at home, we have a lemon tree in our backyard!" He said, kicking his feet a little bit, not so much that it would disrupt him, though

"That's very interesting!" The teacher moved on to the other students, until eventually everyone was introduced. 

He talked for a while about the classroom behavior rules, and what they'd be doing in each subject. He didn't believe in assigning homework on the first day, unlike the teacher next door to him, who would give easy work. Lee wasn't so bad, but his methods were weird. 

Thomas gathered them around for circle time before lunch. Most teachers would read them a book, but Thomas went to the corner and unpacked a violin. He started playing a tune to the children, who were awestruck in the presence of such beautiful music. 

The lunch bell rang, and Thomas put his violin away, watching the kids exit the classroom to go eat lunch with their friends. 

Philip stayed behind, grabbing his lunchbox from his cubby. 

"Why aren't you going to the playground?" The man asked as he zipped up his violin case. 

"Nobody wants to make nice with me." Philip said, sadly. "So I'm eating lunch by myself." 

"You can eat lunch with me if you want." Thomas said, getting his own lunch out and sitting at his desk. 

"You don't mind?" The young boy asked as he sat down in his desk. 

"Of course not! We can talk to each other, too, and learn more about each other." The teacher said, watching Philip open his lunchbox. "Whatcha got there?"

"A ham and swiss sandwich. It's my favorite. It's Papa's favorite, too!" Philip said, taking a bite of the good lunch prepared for him. 

Thomas nodded a bit, catching a serious sense of deja vu drift by his train of thought. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah! And I got a treat for afterward! Lemons with salt!" He said excitedly, unknowingly causing Thomas to die a little on the inside. He saw the pain on the man's face when he said that. "Mr. Jefferson? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, you just...remind me of someone I used to know." 

"You wanna talk about it? Papa says talking can help with lots of things!" 

"Think you can handle it?" 

"Probably not, I'm only 6." Philip joked, taking another bite of his sandwich. Thomas chuckled and shook his head. 

"To put it at a first grade level, my boyfriend in college was going to have a baby, and he told me I couldn't see it. I'll never get to see my baby." He said while taking a bite of his own sandwich. 

"I'm sorry that happened to you. Papa says that he had to leave his boyfriend too, which is why I only have one dad!" Philip sympathized, finishing his sandwich and eating one of the salted lemons in his lunchbox, too. "Do you want one?"

"Hm? One what?"

"Salted lemon!" 

"I don't think that I've ever had salted lemons before." 

"Try one! They're good!" Philip handed one to Thomas, excited to see him try it. He bit into it and hummed a bit, nodding with a thumbs up to show he liked it. Phlip cheered excitedly.


	16. Peaceful Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip Tells Alex about his first day at school

The school bell rang, Philip sprinting out of the doors full speed, excited to see his father after not seeing him for a whole 9 hours. 

"Papa!!" He shouted as he spotted the man in glasses, hair down and messy, searching for his son. 

"Philip! There's my little man!" Alexander said, bending down to pick up the excited young boy, instantly getting a giant hug. The child rubbed his nose against his cheek, cuddling into his grasp, which instantly crumpled his father's work clothes. "How was school?"

"Great! I wanna tell you all about it!" The child said, bouncing excitedly in his father's arms. This earned a laugh from the man. 

"Well, let's get you in the car, and you can tell me about how it went." Alex said, carrying his son to their vehicle, listening to him hum a happy tune, obviously very excited to relay his day to the adult. 

Philip was placed gingerly in his car seat, and buckled up. His door was closed, and he watched his father walk to the driver's side door and climb in, buckle up, and start the car. 

"I brought you a snack." Alex said, passing back a bag of cheese puffs for his son, who cheered happily, crunching down on one as they pulled onto the route that would take them home. 

Philip was silent as he ate his cheese puffs, Alex occasionally looking through the mirror to see if Philip was okay, and he was, just enjoying his tasty snack. As soon as he was done, he handed the empty Ziploc bag to his dad, who traded it for a napkin so he could wipe his hands.

"So, tell me about school." Alex said, checking on him again as he turned a corner, driving carefully. 

"Well, I got there early, and Mr. Jefferson was there, too! I tried to open the classroom door, and he thought I was breaking into his classroom, so I played along and told him that I was gonna eat all of his chalk!" Philip explained. 

This earned a good laugh from his father, who slowed down a little bit to be able to laugh without driving recklessly. "You threatened to eat his chalk?!" He asked through laughs. 

"Yeah, but it turned out he had a whiteboard, too, so next time I'll tell him that I'm gonna drink his markers."

"You really are my son!" Alex said, returning to driving normal speed. 

"Well, duh! Who else's would I be?" Philip asked, making Alex smile and shake his head. 

"I'll tell you one of these days." Alex said, adjusting the mirror before continuing on their journey home. 

"Maybe after I finish telling you about my school day?" Philip asked hopefully. 

"No, not today, I don't think I'm ready. But I'd still like to know about your school day. Tell me more!" 

"Okay! Well, Mr. Jefferson told me he was a Ravenclaw..." 

The child chattering away in the backseat, the two made it home safely. Alex pulled into their driveway and let Philip out. He ran out excitedly, bouncing around at the relief of fresh air. 

"Philip, why don't you come play inside while I make dinner?" Alex asked, grabbing Philip's backpack and hanging it up after they got inside. 

"Ooo! Ooo! Can I help?" Philip asked excitedly as he slid his shoes off and ran to his room to put his socks in his hamper. He returned, his naked feet padding against the floor as he jogged back to his dad. 

"Sure, just wash your hands before you do." Alex said, taking off his shoes as well as his child came back. 

"I'm too small to reach the faucet!" Philip said, reaching his arms up. "Up!" He shouted, getting picked up by his father, and carried over to where they kept the step-stools. One was unfolded for him, and he was set down onto the firm step, able to reach the stove and sink properly. "Thank you, Papa." 

Alex made sure Philip used soap to wash his hands, which was never a concern, considering he always did. After his hands were washed and dried, Alex got out a few ingredients for that night's dinner. He gave Philip a box of noodles, watching his eyes light up. The kid loved pasta. He gasped happily upon seeing that they were having chicken pasta. He bounced excitedly in place, earning a chuckle and head pat from his dad. 

"Can I cut the chicken?" He asked with a head tilt. Alex shook his head. 

"You're still a little young to work with knives and raw chicken." He informed, flouring down a cutting board to slice up the chicken breasts. Philip was disappointed, but he understood just fine why he couldn't. He watched his father cook the chicken before setting the pan aside. He got a pot of water on the stove and let Philip dump the noodles in when the water was at its boiling point. 

Alex walked over and got a jar of homemade Alfredo sauce from the fridge, getting it ready for when they were ready to mix everything together. 

Philip knew exactly when the pasta was done. The water was drained out, and the sauce and chicken were added. Philip got down from his step-stool and set the table for his dad without him knowing. When Alex looked over at the table, he smiled gently, praising Philip for being responsible. He plated the food and set the plates in their respective spots. Philip sat down after being given a cup of milk to have with dinner(Alex knew he was careful), and began to eat. Alex followed suit. 

His son continued to relay the information about his day to his father, who listened to every word he had to say, nodding as he ate his dinner.

"And for circle time, he got out a violin!" Philip said excitedly, placing his hands on the table excitedly. 

"Woah! That's really cool, what songs did he play?" 

:I think he was playing a video game song, the one with the powerful triangles." 

"Legend of Zelda?"

"Yeah!" 

"Sweetie, that's called a triforce." Alex corrected. 

"Woah, really? That's so cool!" Philip had finished his dinner and half of his milk. 

"Can I have a treat now?" 

"Finish your milk, your doctor said you aren't getting enough calcium."

"What's calcium?" 

"Something that makes your bones strong." 

"Woah! Neat!" Philip chugged his milk, leaving a mark from where it splashed against his face. This earned a light chuckle from Alex. 

"Milk mustache." He wiped Philip's face with a napkin, earning a small thank you in replacement of what would be a normal child's protesting. 

Philip was far from normal, and that was to be expected with where his blood came from. He was given a cookie, and was content with that. 

And then, it was off to bed with the young child. After Philip was bathed and in bed, Alex went to the bathroom to take a long, thoughtful shower. he thought about his fast Philip was growing up. His mind wandered to how Philip was conceived. 

Who he was conceived with, and why Alex left. 

Who was he kidding? He missed Thomas. He realized that running away from his problems didn't solve anything. 

But, the thought of being anywhere else but in the free-from-pollution countryside, with a lemon tree in the backyard, and plenty of space for his beautiful son to run around in made him not regret his decision as much. He loved his son more than he loved himself, and would always put Philip before himself. 

Even if it meant putting off finding Thomas for just a little while longer.


	17. Take Aways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip needs some help with his homework.

Philip sat at the coffee table, between the couch and the television. He had an incomplete sheet of homework laid in front of him, his pencil was set down as he watched his father pace around while talking on the phone. He didn't quite know what a 'deadline' was, or how it could be 'rapidly approaching', but he understood his father was busy. He tried doing his homework, able to do a couple problems, but he ended up getting stuck after a second. He gulped a bit, hoping his dad wouldn't be mad about this. 

"Papa?" He choked out nervously, watching his father come in from the next room, phone held against his ear, but the mouthpiece turned away from him. 

"What is it, Philip?" He asked.

"I don't know how to do my homework..." He admitted, folding his hands under the table. He watched his father soften for a moment before taking a deep breath. 

Philip came first. 

"Hey, look, I'll call you back. My son needs help with his homework." Alex said to the man on the phone. "It is important though....Well, you try having kids, and then see where your priorities are." He hung up and put his phone in his pocket, crouching by the table with his son. 

"What's the homework about, buddy?" He asked. 

"We're doing take aways, and I don't know how." Philip said, gesturing to his nearly empty worksheet. 

Alex nodded and thought for a moment before taking some change from his wallet and putting it on the glass-topped coffee table. 

"What's those for?" Philip asked curiously. 

"These are your numbers, okay?" Alex said. 

"Those are coins, Papa." 

"I know, we're making believe that they're numbers." Alex said. "This one is 10, take away 4, right?" 

"Mhm." Philip said. 

Alex organized ten coins in a row. "Now, take away four." 

Philip removed four pennies from the arrangement. 

"Now how many are left?" 

Philip counted the coins up. "Six!" He said, writing the number down on his paper. 

"That's right! High five!" Alex held up his palm, getting it slapped by his son's small hand. 

"The next one is 7, take away 2." Philip informed, watching his dad organize the coins again. 

They got done in 20 minutes. 

Alex redialed the company, but he got a busy tone. He let out a sigh through his nostrils. 

"Hey, Philip?" 

"Yas, Papa?" 

"Do you want to go play catch outside?" 

"Yas!" Alex watched as his son's face lit up at the excitement of bonding with his parent. The child ran to the front door to get his shoes, slipping them on after putting on a pair of socks. He bounced excitedly in place as Alex grabbed a ball and opened the door, watching Philip explode outside and run down to their yard.

The father walked down to the wide open space, throwing the ball and having Philip catch it. He threw it back, and the cycle repeated, smiles on both their faces as they bonded together. 

Alex misjudged his aim, and knew that he had before it even got 2 centimeters from his grip. The ball knocked his child in the face and he instantly yelped, running over to see blood running out of his mouth. 

"Ahh, Philip, I'm so sorry, I didn't aim right, I didn't mean to hur-" 

"Look, Papa!" Philip said, grabbing something in the grass next to him. "My tooth fell out!" He said, showing him the blood covered baby tooth. 

"I knocked your tooth out?!" Alex asked before his panic died down. "Let's see...yeah, it looks like it was already pretty loose. Let's get your mouth rinsed out, and get your tooth ready for the tooth fairy." He said, leading his child by his small hand to the bathroom so they could rinse out his mouth.

The child was able to eat his dinner just fine, a little slow considering the weird feeling in his jaw. He was given some ice cream for dessert, then cleaned up and sent to bed. 

The next morning, Philip got up without needing to be coaxed. Alex pounded on his alarm clock and met his son in the hallway, picking him up and kissing his forehead. He walked the child to get dressed, the small boy picking out a yellow t-shirt and black pants. Alex made a joke about bumblebees, and Philip giggled as he was aided in getting clothed. Philip was given some yogurt and cherries for breakfast, watching his father pack him a lunchbox. Some cheese puffs, a sandwich, and a bottle of flavored water, along with a note for Philip to read when he opened it. He closed the lunchbox and waved his little monster along so they could go to school. 

Alex drove his son, and walked him to the front doors, watching him go inside, before driving to work. He got through the front doors, up to his office, to find one of his supervisors there. He left the door open as he walked over to inquire. "Is the deadline already here? I'm almost finished, I swear, I thought I had another week or so."

"You're fired." 

The words hit him like a train, he stepped back a little bit in surprise. 

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, hoping he hadn't heard him correctly. 

"Gather your things." 

"I-, Sir- Wait, I can't be fired, I have a kid to support-" Philip came first. Philip came first, always. Philip came first, forever. 

A voice he'd heard before, but not in a context he usually agreed with piped up from outside the door. 

"You can't fire him! He's one of our top performing lawyers in the company! If you fired him, you'd be at a great loss!" A redheaded boy by the name of Samuel said, looking just as frightened as Alex. 

"Well, last night on the phone, he-" 

"He left to help his son with his homework, yas, family comes first. I was the one talking to him over the phone, I relayed this information to you. Take one of my points away, he needs this job!"

"Samuel, you know I-" 

"Fine, if you're firing him, then I'm quitting." Samuel began taking off his work ID. 

Losing two of the top performers in a company in one go would not be a smart move. 

"Well, I suppose I can make an exception." The man stammered out as he quickly made his leave from the office. Alex dropped to his knees, gripping onto a chair for support. He held back tears of relief as he breathed deeply. Samuel knelt by his side. 

"We may not get along sometimes, but I see how you are with your son when I pick up my little Violetta from school, with her father at her side. You love that child more than you love yourself. You need this job to support your child, and I can understand that, too." A small smile found its way to the man's face. "We can't survive on Charles' salary alone, now, can we?" He nudged his co-worker playfully, earning a light chuckle. 

"Thank you, Samuel, you're a lifesaver. Let me buy you a drink sometime."

"That's a kind offer, but I don't drink. A coffee would do fine." 

"A coffee, then." Alex said, as he stood up and watched Samuel leave his office. He let out a deep breath as he relaxed into a chair to collect himself.


	18. Heart Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parent-teacher conferences happen

"Papa!" Philip called as he ran out of the school doors, meeting his father, who looked as if he'd had a long day. His parent bent down and picked him up anyway, holding him in his arms. 

"Hey, buddy! What's up?"

"I had so much fun today! We learned lots and lots! And Mr. Jefferson said parent-teacher talks are soon! He gave me this paper." He hands the pink piece of paper to Alex, who read over it with a small nod.

"Wednesday at 6:30?" He asked, bouncing the child gently to keep him entertained. "That's tomorrow." He informed. "That gives me enough time to get changed, shower, and help you with your homework before we go. Then we can come back and eat dinner." He said.

"Sounds like a plan?" He asked his young boy, bringing him to the car.

"Mhm!" Philip nodded excitedly as he was buckled into his car seat. "I showed Mr. Jefferson that I lost my tooth today, and the fairy money I got!" Philip said, showing his father the glitter covered $5 the tooth fairy had left him.

"Wow! What are you going to spend your fairy money on?" Alex asked, tilting the mirror to look back at his son in the backseat.

"I'm gonna buy some berries!" Philip decided with a huge grin on his face, staring at the dollar covered in blue and purple glitter.

"Sounds tasty." Alex said as he pulled onto the road.

The two chattered away on their way home, Alex stopping at the store so Philip could buy himself some berries. When they arrived at the house, the man put the box of berries in the fridge upon his son's request, and they got started on homework right away.

The next day, after homework was finished, Alex tied Philip's shoes for him and led him down to the car, taking a deep breath of the fresh air, which would soon be replaced by the claustrophobic city atmosphere. He drove carefully, putting in music that Philip liked so he'd stay entertained. 

The car slowed to a park in the school lot, and Alex walked around the car to take Philip out of his car seat and lead him inside, letting him lead the way to the classroom. Philip bounced excitedly. 

But, the person who was most excited for this conference was Thomas himself. 

He understood that 'Hamilton' was a common last time, and it probably wouldn't be the person he'd been missing for about 6 years. If that was the case, then the conference would go smoothly, no questions asked. 

But, the chance that there was another 'Hamilton' who left his boyfriend in college, moved to the country, single dad, whose favorite sandwich was Ham and Swiss, and who adored salted lemons?

Null. 

He finished the current conference and watched the parents leave. 

"Next!" He called, Philip running into the room excitedly. "Heya, Philip! Where's your Papa?" He asked, looking over upon Philip pointing at the man who stood frozen 3 paces from the classroom door, which filled the room with a click as it shut. 

It was silent for a whole of 30 seconds. 

That was Thomas, unmistakably. The mess of curls on his head, the southern drawl in his voice, dripping with honey. The posture, the fashion sense that undoubtedly been passed on to his son. 

That was Alex, unmistakably. The hair, pulled back into a tight ponytail in that moment, the intelligent eyes, the posture, though the only thing missing was his tendency to ramble on for hours before taking a single breath. 

It was silent for a whole of a minute. 

A hand was brought to Alex's mouth as tears filled their way into his eyes. He felt himself being pulled into a tight hug before they escaped, and being released onto a soft fabric. Sobs escaped him. His entire body felt weak, a voice he hadn't heard in years snuck its way into his brain. 

"Lexi?...Lexi, angel, is that you?" He asked. 

The nickname that tore him apart every time he played that day back in his head, where he refused to tell Thomas that he had a son, a child, the possibility of a life with him, refused to tell him anything because of the fear of ridicule, shame brought down upon his name, being called a whore like his mother was forced to endure. 

He thought that running away from all of his problems would make them cease to exist. The problems eventually caught up to him, they always did find a way to do that. 

Alexander began to explain himself, a confused and concerned looking Philip clinging onto his leg as he choked out the story through sobs. He watched as Thomas slowly softened like butter on a counter required for sugar cookies. 

"Lexi, angel, I'm not mad at you." 

The words hung into the air on the noose of forgiveness. 

"You're not?" Alex asked, his entire body relaxing and being supported by the grip of the Virginian.

"No, I'm not. I understand why you did it, I understand. I forgive you, I can't bring myself to hold a grudge against someone who took my heart 6 years ago." Thomas said, brushing a strand of hair behind the smaller male's ear.

"I tried to find you, I really did. But Philip came first, he always comes first-"

"I understand that, too, the fact that you tried makes me so happy." 

"Papa, I'm confused, what's going on, why are you crying?" Philip asked, tugging on Alexander's pant leg. 

Alexander frantically wiped his tears. 

"Philip, this is your father." Alex said, using his hand to gesture to Thomas. Philip's face slowly lit up like a light bulb, and he hugged onto Thomas's legs. Though the expression of confusion still clear on his face, he understood what was going on now.

The family embraced each other for five minutes before talking about Philip's academic performance. He was doing wonderfully, passing every class with flying colors. Except math, of course, though they were working on that. 

Phone numbers were exchanged, and Thomas watched his son leave with the man he'd finally found after such a long time.


	19. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas is invited over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this, and then it got swiped away and didn't save for some reason

Philip bounced excitedly as they parked in front of the school. 

"Remember to give him your homework and the piece of paper, okay?" The father asked as he lifted his son, who was wiggling around with so much energy, from his place in the backseat. 

"Okay, Papa!" Philip said as he skipped to the front door, greeting his bestest-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world with a big hug. The two joined hands and walked inside. 

"What class are you in, 'Dosia?" Philip asked as they skipped down the hallway together. The girl beside him explained that she had Lee as a teacher, and Philip walked her to the classroom door before dashing towards his father's room, to plan to break into it. Halfway there, he was scooped up into long arms covered by a magenta button-up. 

"Gotcha!" He said with a wide grin on his face, earning giggles and squirming from the child in his arms as he was carried into the room and placed next to his cubby to put his things away.

Philip unzipped his backpack and got out his papers.

"Whatcha got there, is that your homework?" The man asked, extending his palm and getting the homework, as well as a slip of green paper. 

"Mhm! Papa helped me, and he also told me to give you that paper!" Philip informed, running over to his desk and sitting down, prepared to get his knowledge on. 

Thomas smoothed the slip of green paper against his shirt, looking at the black pen markings on it. 

'Hey.   
Why don't you come over and visit?  
You're more than welcome to stay tonight.   
If you plan to come over, tell Philip that you're bringing him home, and text me.   
It will save time and give me some time to get the house ready.   
Here's our address.  
A.Ham'

Thomas put the address into his GPS for later that night, and texted Alex that he would, indeed, like to spend time with them. How could he say no when he hadn't seen Alex in 6 years? In addition to that, staying the night had implications that he couldn't refuse, as well. Even if he didn't get said implications, he would still love to spend time with his family. He decided not to think about staying the night too much, considering he had 15 6-7 year olds that could need his help at any given moment. He set the phone on his desk. 

Whenever Philip stayed behind to eat lunch with his teacher/father, he was informed that Thomas would be driving him home, and that he'd be there when he woke up. This excited the boy, who then offered him a few of his fruit snacks. They were politely declined. 

Upon the end of the school day, Philip was led by the hand to Thomas' black vehicle, and buckled into the backseat. He watched as Thomas set up his GPS, wiggling his feet lightly as he hummed a tune. 

Thomas drove to his own place first, dashing inside and returning five minutes later with a bag. Philip was fine, and was even starting on his homework. Thomas set the bag in the front seat and began driving, listening to the GPS, and how his son began imitating it. 

"Take a detour through the Wendy's drive-thru." Philip said in his best GPS voice. 

"Not a chance, sugar." Thomas said, adjusting the mirror to give him a look. 

"Aww. It was worth a shot." 

"Yes, it was." The man said as he pulled onto the road that would lead them to the Hamilton residence. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, and Thomas got out, he was smacked in the face with wonderful scenery, fresh air, plenty of room for Philip to run around. How often would a kid get to grow up in a place like this? 

Alex heard a car pull into the driveway and walked out through the side door onto the deck, immediately greeted by one of his boys, who latched onto him and asked to be picked up. His request was fulfilled. The other cautiously stepped up onto the deck, looking nervous that it might cave in. He was reassured that the deck had been standing strong, and had not given any signs of giving out as long as they were there. They all went into the air conditioned home. 

"Papa, I wanna show him my room!" 

"There will be a time for that, Philip. Maybe he can help us read tonight." Alex said with a wink towards Thomas, who chuckled lightly as Philip ran off to play with his toys. "We're reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban right now." 

"Your kid talks about Harry Potter so much, I think you got him hooked." The taller spoke. 

"Thomas." 

"Hmm?"

"He's your kid, too. You could just say 'Philip', or 'our son', okay?" Alex said with a firm tone, though gentleness and understanding laced the edges of each word. He stood in the kitchen, getting out things to make dinner. He opened a cabinet. 

"I brought wine." Thomas informed as he set the bag he'd brought down on the counter. The glass bottle was cushioned by clothes for the next day, so it was fine. This earned a chuckle from the Caribbean, who pulled a bottle of Olive Oil from the cabinet. 

"Did you? Maybe we can each have a glass. Don't let Philip try any of it. Any. You intoxicate our child and I will rip out your spine through your nostrils." A glare sent in his direction showed he wasn't kidding.

"Same old Lexi." Thomas responded, watching the man of smaller stature cut up some chicken breast. He slipped an arm around his waist, covered by a green shirt and a pair of blue jeans, paired together with a brown belt. "Do you still wear that tank top of yours?" He teased lightly, only to be lightly slapped on the arm with the hand that wasn't covered in chicken germs.

"Yes, I still wear my binder. I haven't been able to afford top surgery yet." Alex explained as he finished cutting, tossing the meat into a pan, having the Virginian move aside so he could wash his hands. 

"Don't you ever go swimming?" This earned an eye roll from Alex. 

"Of course I go swimming." Alexander responded, letting Thomas focus on grilling the chicken. "But the thing is, my binder is waterproof, see?" He pulled up his shirt. "It also looks enough like a tank top, so I don't have to worry about weird looks or transphobic aunts named Karen making snide comments about my body." He said as he pulled his shirt back down. "Philip actually learned how to float on his back last summer, before that he'd cling onto me and I'd swim him around." 

The two continued to chat, until the dinner was finished. 

After everyone had eaten dinner, the family sat on the couch with a bowl of cookies and creme popcorn, which was just plain popcorn with Oreo creme poured onto it, and broken bits of Oreos mixed in as well. Thomas and Alex had a glass of wine each, and Philip had a bottle of strawberry milk. They were all watching one of Philip's favorite movies.

Philip looked curiously to the father who had given birth to him. "Can I have a sip of your drink?" He asked. 

"Nope." Alex refused. This made Philip turn to his father who he hadn't met all his life. 

"Can I have a sip of your drink?" Philip gave his best puppy eyes. 

"No, you wouldn't like it. It tastes disgusting." 

"Then why are you drinking it?" 

"Well..." Thomas worried at his lip as he thought of an excuse before simply shrugging and taking another sip. "Because I'm stupid." 

Philip let out a disappointed sigh before deciding that his strawberry milk was the next best thing. 

After the movie, Philip was read to by his fathers, which was twice the intensity of the story, and twice the interest. Twice the tucking in, twice the goodnight kisses. 

The older two of the group went to the bedroom next to Philip's, and got ready to sleep. They caught up on a few things, mainly about what they were doing with their lives at the moment.

Then, they slept peacefully, neither of them worried about the implications of staying over as they were released to the sweet arms of dreamland.


	20. Finale

"5 years?"

"5 years?!" 

"5 years. That's how long your father and I have been married." Alex said as he turned a page in his book, adjusting his glasses as he bookmarked his page. 

"That means that you got married when I was 7, which was a year after you met again?" Philip asked as he took notes. 

"Yes, where is this going? Why are you writing this down?" 

"I'm doing a report on you guys for my English class." Philip responded. He'd just started the 7th grade, and was already a favorite student of all his teachers. Energetic, passionate about knowledge, and considerate to others. 

"Aw, well, that's sweet of you." Alex said, chuckling and folding his glasses onto his shirt as he set the book aside. 

"Where's Dad? I need to ask him a few questions, too."

"He's in our bedroom, don't bother him too much." Alex responded as he got up to go shower. 

"I won't, I just need a few questions." Philip walked to his parents' room and climbed onto the bed, where his father sat typing away at his laptop. "Hey, Dad."

"What is it, darlin'?" 

"I need to ask you a few questions for my English class."

"Oh? Well, shoot." 

"How did you and Papa meet?" Philip asked, ready to scribble down into his notebook. 

"Well, we were in college. We'd met before this, in debate class, but I consider our first meeting when I told him he had a leaf stuck in his hair."

"You did what?" Philip asked through a chuckle.

"I walked up to him and said. 'There is a leaf stuck in your hair'." Thomas informed. This caused Philip to laugh. 

"That's really silly, Dad." 

"I am a very serious man, Philip."

"You helped make the child that threatened to eat chalk!" Alex called from the living room, causing all three of the men to laugh.

Alex had gotten top surgery a year ago, and was much happier and more confident without added dysphoria rushing up to catch him by the neck. Thomas had moved in with them(obviously), and was now used to the half hour commute. 

They were a happy family, yes, and Alex seemed to apologize at least twice a week for leaving Thomas in college. He was always reassured that he wouldn't need to worry about it, because they were there, together. 

In the countryside. 

Eating salted lemon slices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes Salted Lemons!  
> It's a short chapter, I know, but it's a closing chapter!
> 
> I really hope you all enjoyed this fanfiction, leave some Kudos and a comment if you did!   
> I plan to write a Burrmads fanfiction titled 'Broken', so if you're wanting to see that, keep your eyes peeled!  
> I'm also open to ship suggestions, so if there's a ship that you like, tell me!


End file.
